Browse the latest research and insights from J-PAL’s eleven sectors. Led by J-PAL affiliated professors, sector teams manage initiatives that fund research, create publications that summarize lessons from randomized evaluations, and host policy and training outreach events.
File: Policy publication
Eliminating Barriers to Job Seekers' Take-up of Social Benefits in France
Job seekers who met with social workers to discuss their eligibility for social benefits increased their take-up of new benefits. By offering application assistance, social workers helped job seekers navigate complex application procedures.
Case study
Artificial intelligence to strengthen high school students’ writing skills
The state government of Espírito Santo, Brazil applied research findings to scale an AI education technology that gives public school students feedback on their writing, reaching more than 100,000 high school seniors to date.
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...
Evaluation
The Impact of Encouraging Mobile Money Use on Women’s Empowerment in Tanzania
Supporting women’s empowerment, the ability for women to control their resources and make their own choices, is a common policy goal both as its own outcome and as a vehicle to drive other change like improving children’s health and education. Many empowerment programs have targeted women’s income...
Case study
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.
Evaluation
Managerial Practices for Improved Productivity of Skilled Workers in the UK
Researchers worked with an airline to test the impact of different types of information and incentives on pilots’ productivity, as measured by pilots’ implementation of fuel-saving practices. Provision of personalized targets for achieving these fuel-saving practices led pilots to implement them...
Policy insight
Expanding household electricity access
Access to electricity is a critical ingredient in improving human well-being and raising living standards, but the existing evidence suggests that it is just one component of poverty reduction rather than a complete solution on its own.
Policy insight
Improving job seekers’ employment and earnings through credible skills signals
Credible skills signals help alleviate information barriers for both job seekers and firms, and often improve employment and earnings at a low cost. More and better information enables applicants to have a more effective job search, often resulting in higher-quality jobs and better employment...