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

students sit at desks inside a classroom working on an assignment

Affiliate Spotlight: Michela Carlana

Michela Carlana is an assistant professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. From researching the subtle role of bias and motivation in student outcomes to rapidly launching and evaluating scalable programs to combat learning loss, Michela’s work reflects a commitment to reducing...
Adam Osman presents in front of a J-PAL MENA banner

Affiliate Spotlight: Adam Osman

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...
Seema Jayachandrani sits on a wooden bench outside and smiles at the camera.

Affiliate Spotlight: Seema Jayachandran on deforestation, corruption, and the roots of gender inequality

By
  • Douglas Clement
  • Anjali Nair
Seema Jayachandran (Northwestern University) discusses wide-ranging research in the developing world and insights gained into gender parity, economic growth, and pandemic impact in poor nations.
A young girl wearing headphones sits in front of a laptop with notebooks beside her

Q&A with affiliate Michela Carlana on an online tutoring program to address Covid-19-induced educational inequalities

Following the shift to online instruction across Italian schools in March 2020, J-PAL affiliates Michela Carlana (Harvard University) and Eliana La Ferrara (Bocconi University) rapidly launched an online tutoring program to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds who were lagging behind during...
A man squats in a rice paddy looking at a rice plant while holding a cell phone

Affiliate Spotlight: Shawn Cole

Shawn Cole is a Co-Founder and Chair of the Board at Precision Development (PxD), the John G McLean Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and serves as a Co-Chair for J-PAL’s Innovations in Data and Experiments for Action (IDEA) Initiative. For over twenty years, Shawn has...
Zambian farmers load truck

Affiliate Spotlight: Kelsey Jack

J-PAL affiliate Kelsey Jack is leading a movement of climate-focused research within development economics and poverty alleviation through her own research and as co-chair of the King Climate Action Initiative.
Chris Knittel lectures in front of a blackboard.

Affiliate Spotlight: Christopher Knittel on researching firm and consumer responses to environment and energy policies

Christopher Knittel is the George P. Shultz Professor and a professor of applied economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In this J-PAL affiliate spotlight, Chris sheds light on the research questions he’s pursuing to inform policies on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon co-pollution...
An "I voted" sticker with an American flag on a blue jacket

Affiliate Spotlight: Donald Green on the evolution of election science and evidence-based campaign tactics during COVID-19

In this affiliate spotlight, Don Green (Columbia University) shares insights into his research on get-out-the-vote tactics and what these findings could mean for elections in the age of COVID-19.