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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

Choosing a PhD program: Advice from recent PhDs

This post is part of a series offering advice for prospective PhD students. This post compiles advice from J-PAL postdocs and staff with PhDs to help prospective students choose between programs to which they have been accepted, or to help them consider next steps in case they were not accepted to...
Four children with backpacks on, walking away from camera

How anticipating benefit loss shapes family choices

In this post, J-PAL staff sit down with Manasi and Rebecca to discuss the results from their randomized evaluation on the effects of anticipating social safety net benefits on family choices.
Rwanda agricultural landscape

J-PAL and UM6P launch new agriculture research lab to improve food security and support evidence-informed decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa

On October 10, J-PAL in partnership with University Mohammed VI Polytechnic launched the UM6P-J-PAL Agricultural Lab for Africa. Chaired by Tavneet Suri (MIT, J-PAL Agriculture sector Co-Chair), the lab will be hosted at University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco, with the goal of...
A student studies in a library

Applying to PhD programs: Advice from J-PAL affiliates

This post is part of a blog series offering advice for prospective PhD students. The blog post “Is a PhD right for me?” lays out a series of questions and tips to help potential candidates decide whether to pursue a PhD in the first place. This post covers advice on how to write a great PhD...
A headshot of a man

African Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Robertson Khataza

Through our African Scholars Program, we hope to help create more opportunities for African researchers to advance the research agenda on the continent through randomized evaluations. In this spotlight, we speak with Robertson Khataza of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources...
Headshot of Amy Finkelstein, wearing black shirt, in front of wooden door

Affiliate spotlight: An interview with Amy Finkelstein on how randomized evaluations provide key insights for her new book on health insurance reform

Amy Finkelstein, co-scientific director of J-PAL North America, co-authored the book We’ve Got You Covered with Liran Einav, which examines the health care system in the United States and proposes how it should be redesigned. In this post, J-PAL staff sat down with Amy to discuss how randomized...
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Understanding the role and importance of spillover effects

A new J-PAL evidence wrap-up highlights three randomized evaluations that consider the spillover effects of three health care interventions. In this post, we discuss what spillover effects are, a summary of the highlighted studies highlighted, and the benefits to policymakers in considering...
Students at event held in Universidad Catolica Chile

Inspiring students to explore development careers in Chile and Guatemala

While many tend to associate economics primarily with careers in investments and banking, development economics offers an alternative avenue that may be worth exploring. To help broaden this general perception, J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) recently held two events at partner...