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

A group of people participating in an impact evaluation training discuss lessons while sitting at a table.

J-PAL South Asia launches Indian Scholars Program to strengthen ties with India-based researchers

J-PAL South Asia’s new Indian Scholars Program (ISP) will provide research funding, training, and networking opportunities for researchers and academics in India to further expand its network of researchers leading rigorous, policy-relevant randomized evaluations in the country.
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Growing the research agenda on women’s work

Through the Gender and Economic Agency Initiative (GEA), J-PAL is catalyzing a new body of innovative research on women’s work to support policymakers in implementing policies to support working women during and after the pandemic. GEA is now expanding our research portfolio with support from the...
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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...
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Breaking the glass ceiling in economics and policy, one conversation at a time

Read our interview with Prerna Kundu and Prashansa Srivastava, Co-Founders of Women in Economics and Policy, and Research Associates at J-PAL South Asia.
Sweta Suman stands on a stage and speaks to an audience

Alumni Voices from Government: Sweta Suman ‘18, Indian Administrative Service

By
  • Sweta Suman
Formerly a research associate at J-PAL South Asia, Sweta Suman ‘18 is now training to become an officer in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), where she will implement and eventually shape development policy in India. She describes her experience at J-PAL and the path to becoming an IAS officer...
Jasmine Shah stands among a crowd of people looking at an electric vehicle battery swapping facility.

Alumni Voices from Government: Jasmine Shah ‘16, Dialogue and Development Commission, Delhi Government

By
  • Jasmine Shah
Formerly the deputy director of J-PAL South Asia, Jasmine Shah ‘16 now leads public policy design and implementation at the Dialogue and Development Commission within the Delhi government. He describes the transition from J-PAL to government in this post in our Alumni Voices from Government series.
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Creating learning opportunities all along the bureaucratic ladder

By
  • Siddarth Pandit
Siddarth Pandit explains how Creating Learning Opportunities for Public Officials (C-LOP), hosted by J-PAL South Asia, seeks to transform the Indian state’s execution capacity by helping government organizations and officials acquire and improve upon the requisite skills to be successful in their...
A woman sits and smiles

A five-question women’s agency index created using machine learning and qualitative interviews

Women’s agency, or their ability to make and act on their choices for their lives, is an important concept in research and policy related to gender equality. Many policies aim to increase women’s agency, which could be a means for them to improve their health, economic security, and decision-making...