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 research, policy, and training work is fundamentally better when it is informed by a broad range of perspectives.
Co-Líder, Firmas
J-PAL Affiliated Professor
Barton L. Weller (1940) Professor of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Atkin is the Barton L. Weller (1940) Professor of Economics at MIT and a Co-Chair of J-PAL's Firms sector. His research focuses on evaluating the impacts of trade liberalization on the poor in the developing world. His recent work has studied the role of regional taste differences in altering the impacts of trade reforms in India, and educational responses to the rise of export oriented manufacturing in Mexico. David holds a PhD in Economics from Princeton University.
In addition to serving as Co-Chair of J-PAL's Firms sector, David has served on the review board of J-PAL's Jobs and Opportunity Initiative.