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.
J-PAL Affiliated Professor
Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy
University of California, Berkeley
Manisha Shah is a Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Her primary research questions and teaching interests lie at the intersection of applied microeconomics, health, and education. She has studied the economics of sex markets in order to learn more about how effective policies and interventions can slow the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. Manisha also works in the areas of child health and education. She is currently leading projects in Tanzania, Indonesia, and India and has also worked extensively in Ecuador and Mexico.
Manisha received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.