Our mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. We do this through research, policy and scale engagement, and training.

An African teacher teaches six students in a classroom.
Blog

Reflecting on the end of USAID

Over the past two decades, J-PAL and members of our research network worked closely with USAID on many projects to design, pilot, and evaluate innovative solutions; scale up those found to be effective, scale down those that do not work; and widely share the learnings. 

A woman carries a bag of rice from USAID in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake in Haiti, when humanitarian organizations were deluged with funds from individuals
News

Op-ed from Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo calls for a rethink of foreign aid

In a new op-ed, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo call for governments outside of the US, multilateral institutions, and philanthropists to take the lead on impactful and cost-effective foreign aid.

A health worker in the province of Oubritenga, Burkina Faso educates women on contraception options.
Evidence to Policy

Lowering barriers to contraception use through mass media

An evidence-based family planning campaign delivered via mass media was scaled up across Burkina Faso, reaching 80 percent of the country’s population, and adapted in seven countries in southern and eastern Africa.

Farmer selling produce at market
Policy Insight

Increasing small-scale farmers’ access to agricultural markets

Farmers in low- and middle-income countries face challenges accessing markets and earning profits on their agricultural goods. When small-scale farmers have better access to both markets where they buy inputs for their own farming and markets where they sell their goods, they can often invest more...