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?
Public health measures instituted in response to the novel coronavirus in March 2020 have resulted in unprecedented increases in unemployment. This mass unemployment will leave many already rent-burdened Chicagoans unable to pay for housing. While the closure...
King County (WA), Los Angeles (CA), Chicago (IL), Harris County (TX)
Type:
Full project
This evaluation will build on existing evaluations of lotteried housing assistance during COVID19 in King Co. (WA) and Chicago (IL) to study the impact of temporary housing assistance in Los Angeles (CA) and Harris County (TX) for low-income households...
Over the last three decades, countries around the world, including the US and Canada, have experienced a widening gap in school performance between families from high- and low-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds (Chmielewski, 2019). The ongoing Covid-19...
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a major disruption for U.S. students and has led to a severe reduction in college enrollment, especially among low-income and underrepresented minority students. For instance, at community colleges, Black, Hispanic and Native...
This project estimates the ability of 500 officers in the Los Angeles Police Department to assess non-verbal expressed emotion in the era of covid-19. One of the central strategies currently used to control the spread of COVID-19 is encouraging, or requiring...
Low-income individuals often struggle to pay their bills and such challenges have been heightened during the ongoing COVID pandemic. The inability to pay rent or utility or cover unanticipated costs can create a spiral of financial insecurity and economic...
Minnesota has experienced a steady increase in Covid-19 cases which is disproportionately affecting the African American, Latinx, and American Indian communities. An ambitious testing program, which includes a partnership of the University of Minnesota, the...
Already strained from high levels of burnout and secondary trauma in their normal caregiving activities, nurses are now facing immense Covid-19 related challenges that are likely to increase post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and burnout over the next few years...
Tom Chang, Mireille Jacobson, Manisha Shah, Rajiv Pramanik, and Samir B. Shah
Type:
Full project
Estimates of willingness to get vaccinated for Covid-19 range from about 50% to 60% and are low even for some groups facing high risk of Covid-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality. These rates are concerning given that models of herd immunity require...
The COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession have made it challenging for many customers to pay their bills on time. Utilities across the country have adopted a number of short-term solutions to assist customers with bill payment, often allowing customers to...
This study seeks to better understand the role of individualized, virtual summer instruction in redressing learning losses resulting from the COVID-19 school closures. In particular, we are interested in the potential for virtual learning to combat the...