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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

Indonesian woman sits at a table scrolling through a tablet

Indonesians are turning to digital financial services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Social distancing guidelines in Indonesia and around the world have profoundly impacted many aspects of people’s lives, from the way we communicate to the ways we work, shop, and transact. These shifts have brought the potential of digital financial services as a means of easing some of the economic...
A woman uses a mobile phone to make a cash transfer in front of a fruit stand.

DigiFI Africa: A pillar of the G7 Partnership for Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa

J-PAL Digital Identification and Finance Initiative in Africa (DigiFI Africa) is honored to be one of the pillars of the G7 Partnership for Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa. Through DigiFI, J-PAL Africa will support gender-specific research to ensure digital innovations promote the...
Hand providing thumbprint for biometric identification card

DigiFI Africa’s new blog series: The various facets of digital IDs and payments

The Digital Identification and Finance Initiative (DigiFI) is excited to announce a blog series that looks at the various facets of digital identification (ID) and payment systems.
Students taking a test in a classroom

Infinitely cost-effective? Common misconceptions in cost-effective analyses

Cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) can be a helpful tool in comparing programs with similar tools and determining which are likely to provide the greatest return on investment. Although CEAs are not sufficient alone to inform policy decisions, they can be a useful starting point.
Two female cashiers wearing face masks clean a counter.

Building an effective COVID-19 response: Expanding access to jobs and the social safety net

Job and wage losses in the United States have disproportionately impacted low-income workers, workers of color, and women, setting the stage for pre-existing racial and gendered wealth and wage gaps to widen. The COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Initiative aims to identify effective ways to support...
Two women gather around a computer on which an online course is displayed.

Building personal connection in an online learning community

J-PAL Africa learned from focus groups in Ghana that lack of local connection and learning with peers is one of the biggest challenges experienced by students in the online MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy. As a response, J-PAL Africa developed a course representative system...
The outside of a city hall building.

Promoting upward mobility in partnership with state and local governments

This blog post is part one of three in a series on how state and local governments in the United States can promote upward mobility in their communities. It is part of J-PAL North America’s work to develop a learning agenda that summarizes the core research priorities from state and local...
Two hands holding money and mobile phone to conduct a mobile money transfer

The role of a (digital) universal basic income in supporting pandemic resilience

Does universal basic income (UBI) help vulnerable populations respond to large-shocks, such as COVID-19? J-PAL affiliated researchers recently followed up on a 2017 study to assess the program's impact.