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
Assistant Professor
Boston University
Benjamin Marx is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at Boston University. One strand of his research studies the determinants of political accountability, state capacity, and voting behavior in developing countries. He has worked in various countries including Kenya, Senegal, and Uganda as well as, more recently, Indonesia. Another strand explores the political economy of religion, with the goal of better understanding the interplay between religious institutions, politics, and culture. In addition, he is interested in the study of discrimination and the political economy of urban poverty. He received his PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.