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 97 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?
Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.
J-PAL's King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI) announces its first round of funded projects to generate evidence on the real-world effectiveness of policies and programs at the intersection of poverty and climate change.
The February edition of J-PAL North America's monthly newsletter highlights the fifth round of State and Local Innovation Competition proposals, evidence for boosts in Earned Income Tax Credit, and research on the relationship between physical activity and mental health.
In a new study, Esther Duflo, Ben Olken, Abhijit Banerjee, and Marcella Alsan find that improved public health messaging to Black, Latinx, and other communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic can increase Covid-19 knowledge and information-seeking in the United States. The study...
Three policy considerations are posed regarding the use of tutoring to address inequities in the education system that have been exacerbated by Covid-19.
J-PAL Global Executive Director Iqbal Dhaliwal and Senior Policy Associate Samantha Friedlander discuss why economic growth is necessary but not sufficient to solve the problems of those living in poverty around the world.
Pascaline Dupas, Joseph Doyle, and Karen Macours write about the emerging body of evidence that holds important lessons for overcoming Covid-19 information constraints, combating misinformation, and building trust in health systems. These insights may also help to improve delivery and increase...
NPR features a project funded by J-PAL's Innovation in Government Initiative - an ambitious cash transfer program to provide immediate cash support to poor households that are impacted by Covid-19. The project by Joshua Blumenstock, Christopher Udry, and Dean Karlan assists the Togo government's...
In the February 2021 Newsletter, we highlight the effect of Covid-19 on women's work, the King Climate Action Initiative's inaugural funding competition, and the potential of Computer-Assisted Learning technology to rebuild students’ foundational skills after the pandemic.