The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,000 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,000 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
Our affiliated professors are based at over 120 universities and conduct randomized evaluations around the world to design, evaluate, and improve programs and policies aimed at reducing poverty. They set their own research agendas, raise funds to support their evaluations, and work with J-PAL staff on research, policy outreach, and training.
Our Board of Directors, which is composed of J-PAL affiliated professors and senior management, provides overall strategic guidance to J-PAL, our sector programs, and regional offices.
J-PAL recognizes that there is a lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of economics and in our field of work. Read about what actions we are taking to address this.
We host events around the world and online to share results and policy lessons from randomized evaluations, to build new partnerships between researchers and practitioners, and to train organizations on how to design and conduct randomized evaluations, and use evidence from impact evaluations.
Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters, and connect with us for media inquiries.
Based at leading universities around the world, our experts are economists who use randomized evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. Connect with us for all media inquiries and we'll help you find the right person to shed insight on your story.
J-PAL is based at MIT in Cambridge, MA and has seven regional offices at leading universities in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
J-PAL is based at MIT in Cambridge, MA and has seven regional offices at leading universities in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Our global office is based at the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It serves as the head office for our network of seven independent regional offices.
Led by affiliated professors, J-PAL sectors guide our research and policy work by conducting literature reviews; by managing research initiatives that promote the rigorous evaluation of innovative interventions by affiliates; and by summarizing findings and lessons from randomized evaluations and producing cost-effectiveness analyses to help inform relevant policy debates.
Led by affiliated professors, J-PAL sectors guide our research and policy work by conducting literature reviews; by managing research initiatives that promote the rigorous evaluation of innovative interventions by affiliates; and by summarizing findings and lessons from randomized evaluations and producing cost-effectiveness analyses to help inform relevant policy debates.
How do policies affecting private sector firms impact productivity gaps between higher-income and lower-income countries? How do firms’ own policies impact economic growth and worker welfare?
How can we identify effective policies and programs in low- and middle-income countries that provide financial assistance to low-income families, insuring against shocks and breaking poverty traps?
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...
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.
After seven years working with J-PAL Africa, I am transitioning to a new role working in local school systems in the United States. Working with J-PAL Africa (and, in recent years, TaRL Africa) has been one of the greatest joys of my life. As I step away, I want to share a few reflections about how...
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant reductions in the quality and quantity of schooling across the United States. J-PAL North America’s The COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Initiative COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Initiative aims to identify effective ways to support students...
How can policy leaders best support their communities in the face of the joblessness, educational setbacks, and trauma inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic? Rigorous evidence will play a critical role in helping us understand which policies and programs will truly work to help communities recover in...
Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development while addressing the enormous challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic requires identifying, implementing, and scaling the most effective social policies and programs. Too often, however, this key principle—effectiveness—can get lost amid other...
More than one billion students have been out of school due to COVID-19. Data from past crises suggest large and lasting impacts on education, especially girls’ re-enrollment and learning loss. For this reason, J-PAL and partners have recently released a joint statement on the importance of focusing...
J-PAL affiliate and Director of Opportunity Insights Raj Chetty reflects on partnering with J-PAL North America to evaluate an intervention called Creating Moves to Opportunity, which aims to help lower-income families in the United States to move to higher-opportunity areas.