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 research, policy, and training work is fundamentally better when it is informed by a broad range of perspectives.
J-PAL Affiliated Professor
Professor of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nathaniel Hendren is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research lies at the intersection of theoretical and empirical work in public economics, focusing on a range of topics including insurance markets, welfare measurement, and intergenerational mobility. His work provides methods for welfare analysis of government policy interventions, helps explain why individuals with pre-existing conditions are often not offered insurance (even at higher prices), and explores patterns and drivers of intergenerational mobility in the United States. He is currently a Principal Investigator of the Equality of Opportunity Project, exploring the geography of intergenerational mobility and the role of neighborhoods in promoting upward mobility. He earned a BS in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Nathaniel serves as a Scientific Advisor for J-PAL's Cost-Effectiveness Analysis portfolio.