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 Middle East and North Africa (J-PAL MENA) at The American University in Cairo (AUC) co-hosted a seminar (recording here) with UNICEF Egypt on May 19, 2022 to share global evidence on early childhood development to guide investments in long-term human capital development in Egypt.
Rahma Ali is a former research manager at J-PAL Middle East and North Africa, where she was at the forefront of establishing the office’s research operations in Egypt and pushing forward randomized evaluations on employment and livelihood generation in the country. Now at Global TIES for Children at...
J-PAL MENA at AUC co-hosted a seminar with UNICEF Egypt on February 22, 2022 to share global evidence on fertility and family planning to promote healthy behaviors and curb population growth in Egypt. This seminar was the fifth in a broader Global Evidence for Egypt Spotlight Seminar Series.
On November 15, 2021, J-PAL MENA at AUC co-hosted a roundtable discussion with UNICEF Egypt titled, "Towards an evidence-informed development agenda for Egypt: Fostering government-research partnerships."
Sawiris Foundation for Social Development hosted a seminar on Sunday, September 12 in collaboration with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Middle East and North Africa based at The American University in Cairo to discuss findings of a study conducted on the effects of loans and grants on...
Alison Fahey and Lobna Kassim reflect on the successful partnership between J-PAL MENA at AUC and the MSME Development Agency to create a culture of evidence-based program and policy design.
Adam Osman is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Co-Scientific Director at J-PAL Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Adam’s work using randomized evaluations to test theories about improving the lives of the poor serves to fill the gap in...
In this post, Hana Lakhdar Gazal (Deputy Director, Morocco Employment Lab) describes her past work with the Moroccan government to institutionalize data-driven policymaking and how it inspired her to pursue this further at J-PAL.