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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.

Relationship Banking in India

Researchers evaluated whether the intensity of personalized interaction between borrowers and loan officers in India influenced borrowers’ repayment behavior. They found that clients with personal relationship managers at the bank had better repayment behavior but were not more satisfied with their...

J-PAL Africa Project Incubation Fund – 2017 Round

J-PAL Africa, located in SALDRU in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town, has a pool of funds to support researchers to carry out exploratory research work on policy relevant questions related to South Africa. This work should lead to the development of a full research proposal for...

The Impact of Drought-Tolerant Rice on Local Labor Markets in India

Researchers are testing the impact that stress-tolerant seeds, which have better yields than conventional varieties under weather shocks, affect landless laborers.

The Value of Postsecondary Credentials in the Labor Market

Amira Abulafi
Claudia Goldin
For-profit (and often online) universities account for nearly half of all postsecondary growth over the last decade, yet relatively little is known about how employers value and compare these education types. To test this, researchers randomly submitted resumes with different characteristics and...

Digital Monitoring and Health Service Provision in Sierra Leone

In many countries, rural populations access social services through decentralized systems that hire community-based workers with high monitoring needs, leaving little time for supervisors to perform other essential functions. Researchers are evaluating the impact of a phone-based e-monitoring app...

The Impact of Charter Schools on Student Learning Outcomes in the United States

Joshua Angrist
Parag Pathak
Researchers examined the impact of time spent at a charter school on students’ learning outcomes in Lynn, Massachusetts. Results suggest that enrollment at a charter school significantly improved students’ test scores in both math and English language arts.

Subsidized Land Titles, Social Institutions, and Land Formalization in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a subsidized land titling program on both starting and completing land registration, as well as on citizens’ participation in social institutions. Being offered a land titling subsidy...

How Does Winning the Lottery Affect Labor Supply? Evidence from Sweden

David Cesarini
Erik Lindqvist
Robert Östling
Researchers used data on lottery winners in Sweden to determine whether receiving an influx of cash affected the labor supply decisions of winners and their spouses. They found that lottery winners reduced their labor supply, suggesting that cash transfers can have an effect on labor market outcomes...