In Colombia, New Findings on Criminal Governance
Media Coverage
December 26, 2020

[In Spanish] Colombia's largest daily newspaper, El Tiempo, discusses new findings on criminal governmance in Medellín. Researchers recently presented findings on how combos, local crime organizations, have substituted for local government providing many municipal services. Researcher Santiago Tobón cautions against knee-jerk reactions by the government and says the situation is complex and may require innovative approaches to serving communities. 
COVID and Policing in Mexico
Citizen Security and Policing Amidst COVID-19 in Mexico
November 18, 2020

By Rodrigo Canales, Julia Madrazo, and Jessica Zarkin

The COVID-19 pandemic has set in motion a series of crises that have not only presented enormous challenges for all governments but also have exposed and exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and fault lines. In few areas has this been more evident than in the relationship between police forces and the citizens they serve. And Mexico is no exception. There is a long and troubled history in the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the Mexican public. This has been further complicated by the onset of COVID-19, which...
Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Canales
To Stop Violent Policing, Build Effective Police Organizations
Rodrigo Canales
June 12, 2020

Editor's note: This is a cross-posting of an interview with researcher Rodrigo Canales that originally appeared on the Yale School of Management's Yale Insights blog about his ongoing work with IPA Mexico.  

For the last three years, Rodrigo Canales, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Yale SOM, has led a project studying police forces in Mexico and testing approaches to building more effective and trusted departments. We asked him what the research says about how to prevent racist and violent policing in the United States.

Photo courtesy of Rodrigo...
Washington Post on IPA Study on Reducing Deforestation
Media Coverage
January 27, 2020

In a Washington Post article on how planting trees can help counter the effects of global climate change, Seema Jayachandran discusses her study with IPA incentivizing landowners in Uganda to preserve trees on their land, reducing deforestation.
Policia CDMX
Weathering the Storm: Navigating Political Transitions During a Research Project
Rodrigo Canales, Mushfiq Mobarak
November 20, 2019

Partnering with governments on research projects is a great way to ensure buy-in to rigorous research from policymakers, but it comes with a unique challenge: those policymakers can change due to political transition or staff turnover in the middle of a study. When that happens, what does that mean for the research? Months of organizational planning typically go into a research project, and the prospect of blowing it up and doing something new can be daunting. In this blog post, we discuss IPA Mexico’s experience working through a political transition and what it’s taught us about how to...
In VoxDev, Does Bottom-Up Accountability Work?
Media Coverage
July 25, 2019

Researchers Doug Parkerson (IPA), Pia Raffler (Harvard University), and Daniel Posner (UCLA) write in VoxDev on an evaluation of Uganda's Accountability Can Transform (ACT) Health program, which mobilizes community members to monitor healthcare service delivery. The study found that while this participatory approach marginally improved the delivery of healthcare services, its effects have significant limitations.
J-PAL on What Research Reveals About Media's Impact on Voter Behavior
Media Coverage
May 28, 2019

In light of the increased role of media in India's 2019 Lok Sabha elections, J-PAL South Asia's Vidita Priyadarshini and Shagun Sabarwal write about what research in the U.S. and Sierra Leone reveals about the impact of media on voter behavior.
Livemint on Women Policymakers in India
Media Coverage
April 25, 2019

Livemint reviews the state of women's representation in India's government, with reference to IPA's study that found increased female representation in local government led to increased investment in public goods.
BloombergQuint Features IPA Study on Women Policymakers in India
Media Coverage
March 25, 2019

BloombergQuint writes on the need for greater political representation of women in India, in the context of the country's 2019 general elections in April. The article highlights an IPA study on the impact of mandating representation of women in village councils on the provision of social goods.
In Peru's El Comercio: IPA Research Using Nudges to Improve Public Services
Media Coverage
January 28, 2019

In an op-ed for El Comercio, Oswaldo Molina writes on IPA research conducted by Andrew Dustan, Stanislao Moldonado, and Juan Manuel Hernandez-Agramonte evaluating the impact of behavioral nudges to improve the performance of public officials.
The Diplomat Features IPA Research on Women Policymakers in India
Media Coverage
January 04, 2019

The Diplomat writes on the lack of political representation of women in India, highlighting IPA research on the impact of mandating representation of women in village councils on the provision of social goods.
Devex Covers the DFID-backed Governance, Conflict, and Crime Initiative
Media Coverage
July 18, 2018

Devex reports on the Governance, Conflict, and Crime Initiative (GCCI), a joint IPA and J-PAL initiative that was granted funding through the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). GCCI's goal is to support RCTs piloted through IPA and J-PAL to generate much-needed evidence on solutions to conflict and corruption, particularly in fragile states. Devex outlines some of these pilot evaluations and key takeaways from a London event in early June.
L'Economiste du Faso on Local Governance Study
Media Coverage
June 04, 2018

Burkina Faso's L'Economiste features an article about a study done by Malte Lierl and IPA Burkina Faso evaluating the effect of local elections on corruption, social norms, and civic enagement. (Note: in French).
Christian Science Monitor Discusses IPA Deforestation Findings
Media Coverage
December 27, 2017

In the Christian Science Monitor, Daniel Grossman explores strategies scientists are pursuing to prevent deforestation and preserve forests' natural ability to sequester carbon and slow the effects of climate change. Grossman interviews Seema Jayachandran about study with IPA showing that paying landowners in Uganda not to cut down endangered trees on their land reduced deforestation. 
NPR's Goats and Soda on IPA Uganda Conservation Study
Media Coverage
July 20, 2017

NPR's Goats and Soda reports on an IPA Uganda study evaluating the effectiveness of a payments for ecosystem services (PES) program, in which Ugandan landowners were paid to not cut forest trees on their property. Seema Jayachandran, the lead author of the study, and Kelsey Jack, an assistant professor in economics at Tufts University, weigh in on the results of the evaluation.

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