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Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.

Information and Adoption of Energy-Efficient Stitching Motors in Bangladesh

Ritam Chaurey
Yunfan Gu
Gaurav Nayyar
Siddharth Sharma
Researchers are working with small- and medium-sized enterprises in the leather goods and footwear manufacturing sector in Bangladesh to understand the role of information in the adoption of energy-efficient motors for stitching machines, as well as firms’ perception of and willingness to pay for...

The Role of Information and Preferences in School Choices in Romania

Robert Ainsworth
Rajeev Dehejia
In this randomized evaluation in Romania, researchers compared the roles of preferences and information in households’ decision-making, with regard to high school selection. Results suggest that households provided with information on school quality tend to choose schools that have a greater...

The Impact of a Gender-Sensitive Training for Police Officers on Gender-Based Violence in India

Girija Borker
Nishith Prakash
Researchers are evaluating the impact of a gender-sensitization training for police officers in Bihar, India, using expressive arts techniques, on police officers’ attitudes towards gender-based violence as well as women’s safety and economic agency.

Textbooks and Test Scores in Kenya

Sylvie Moulin
Researchers evaluated the impact of a program that provided additional textbooks to primary schools in Kenya on students, teachers, and overall learning. This study found no evidence that textbook provision increased average test scores, or that it reduced either grade repetition or dropout rates.

Savings Accounts for Village Micro-Entrepreneurs in Kenya

Researchers offered market vendors and bicycle taxi drivers in rural Kenya the opportunity to open a savings account at no cost. The formal savings accounts increased savings, productive investments, and expenditure levels among female micro-entrepreneurs, but not among males.

Community-Based Monitoring of Primary Healthcare Providers in Uganda

Researchers conducted two randomized evaluations in the health sector in Uganda to evaluate whether community monitoring could impact public health worker performance and subsequent health utilization and outcomes. They found community monitoring, when combined with information on health provider...

Willingness and Ability to Pay for the Kosim Clean Water Filter in Ghana

Researchers in Ghana are attempting to measure households' demand for simple ceramic water filters by offering the filter at different price levels through door-to-door sales. They will also explore whether different household characteristics, such as education, income, and health, affect a...