Blog

News

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.

September 2023 North America Newsletter

J-PAL North America's September newsletter features our 10-year anniversary: highlights from our two-day convening, a new impact webpage and blog series, and our inaugural Evidence Champions.

Western Mass. native will lead statewide program to help low-income residents reach financial stability

Low-income residents often face a Catch-22 when looking to move up in their careers. They can either earn more money or lose their state-provided benefits — like SNAP, housing vouchers, or subsidized childcare. This is known as a “benefits cliff” and is experienced by Americans who live below 200%...

Viewpoint: How a Person's Name Can Prompt Hiring Discrimination

Martin Abel is a behavioral economist who researches discrimination in labor markets. In a study based on a hiring experiment he conducted with another economist, Rulof Burger, they found that participants systematically discriminated against job candidates with names they associated with Black...

Solving homelessness requires more evidence and less politics

Preventing homelessness before it even starts can be less intensive, less expensive and is also backed by evidence.

J-PAL North America August 2023 Newsletter

J-PAL North America's August newsletter features a blog series on fostering inclusion in economics; a new Washington Post article on rigorous research in maternal health; and a new Policy Insight and blog on federal student aid take-up.

Michigan school tutoring funds not likely until spring state officials say

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed off in July on a record public education budget that included $150 million for individualized tutoring and academic support to help the state’s struggling students recover from pandemic learning loss. But a state education official told Bridge Michigan it could...

Opinion: Want to fix America’s maternal health crisis? Here’s where to start.

The Editorial Board writes calls for federal, state, and local institutions to start thinking creatively about how to better serve mothers. Features J-PAL affiliated researcher Jessica Cohen (Harvard University) and J-PAL supported research from affiliated researcher Margaret McConnell (Harvard...

July 2023 North America Newsletter

J-PAL North America's July newsletter features a new policy brief on court nonappearance; new research results on effective legal representation; and an op-ed on summer jobs programs.