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 900 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?
Simone Schaner is an associate professor (research) of economics at the University of Southern California and co-chair of the Inclusive Financial Innovation Initiative. Simone’s interests revolve around decision-making processes within households, especially related to financial access, health care...
How can we support our policy partners to institutionalise the use of rigorous evidence? This blog post, the second in a series exploring J-PAL's research and policy activities across Europe, looks at our partnership with German development cooperation actors to facilitate the use of evidence in...
On 26 January 2023, IFII hosted a learning collaborative to share insights from exploratory and pilot studies to inform policy and decision-making in the digital financial inclusion space. Speakers and participants from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector had the...
In July, we published a blog describing how to access any of the 130+ datasets (and other materials!) from the J-PAL dataverse, our primary location for publishing data and replication packages produced from the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) our affiliated researchers have run over the past...
J-PAL North America is partnering with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to offer LA-based homeless service providers a supportive “community of practice” around rigorous research. Through this effort, we aim to bolster organizations’ ability to generate and use evidence to inform decision-making as...
J-PAL and the Center for Effective Global Action’s (CEGA) Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI) was launched in 2021 to rigorously evaluate programs that increase the availability, quality, and reach of bundled, digital agricultural solutions and services for small-scale...
This blog post, part of J-PAL Europe's series on research and activities across Europe, looks at a series of randomised evaluations in Italy that explore this question with a particular focus on students from immigrant families. As school systems across Europe welcome increasingly diverse...
Yuanjian Carla Li (former Senior Research Associate, 2010-12) and Arun Singh (former Research Associate, 2013-15) were among the first few research staff members at J-PAL South Asia who helped spur conversations around emissions trading in India.