January 2022 Newsletter
Reflecting on 2021 and building a vision for 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt people’s lives and communities across the world. Evidence-informed policymaking is key to ensuring that the most vulnerable are able to adapt. In the 2021-22 edition of “Improving Lives Through Evidence,” learn how we forged partnerships for more equitable and evidence-informed policies in 2021 and how we will build on our vision in the new year. Read more »
Launching an agriculture innovations initiative
Agricultural productivity is central to improving standards of living in low- and middle-income countries, but productivity remains stagnant in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Through generous support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J-PAL and UC Berkeley’s Center for Effective Global Action partnered to launch the new Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative. The initiative will fund innovative and policy-relevant research on the availability, quality, and reach of digital tools that connect small-scale farmers to multiple agricultural services. Read more »
New digital platform to improve foundational literacy and numeracy
Hundreds of millions of children around the world lack foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills, a crisis that has been exacerbated by school closures due to Covid-19. J-PAL collaborated with UNICEF, Pratham, and Delivery Associates, with support from the World Bank Group and Global Partnership for Education, to launch the FLN Hub to address this crisis. The Hub is a digital resource library that shares up-to-date and context-appropriate evidence on education for policymakers and practitioners to improve basic skills for all children. Read more »
EVIDENCE-INFORMED DECISION MAKING
Institutionalizing evidence-informed policymaking in Tamil Nadu
In November 2014, J-PAL formalized an institutional partnership with the State Government of Tamil Nadu, India to support data and evidence use in policymaking. Over the past seven years, this work has spanned nine departments and involved more than twenty J-PAL affiliated professors and their collaborators.
The combined efforts of drawing on global knowledge to address local challenges, innovating and testing new solutions, strengthening government capacity to generate and use evidence, and improving data systems have contributed to building a strong culture of evidence use. Read more »
FEATURED EVALUATION SUMMARY
Motivating health workers in Sierra Leone
Motivating government employees is critical to ensuring high-quality public services, including health care. In an evaluation funded by J-PAL’s Governance Initiative, J-PAL affiliated professor Erika Deserranno (Northwestern University) and coauthors Philipp Kastrau and Gianmarco León-Ciliotta, working with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone, found that a meritocratic promotion system and promising a steep salary increase after promotion raised community health workers’ productivity. Additionally, they found that non-meritocratic promotions with higher pay increases demotivated workers. Read more »
WELCOMING OUR NEW AFFILIATED PROFESSORS
In summer 2021, 38 talented researchers joined the J-PAL network. We will feature a few of them here each month.
Ceren Baysan
University of Essex
Benjamin Marx
Sciences Po
Cristian Pop-Eleches
Columbia University
FEATURED EVENTS
[Webinar recap] Reshaping Gender Attitudes to Promote Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Gender norms and biases often limit women and girls from taking advantage of their rights and opportunities. Decision-makers need to account for these norms in order to design effective policies and programs to support women’s empowerment. In a recent webinar hosted by J-PAL Southeast Asia, Lenny Rosalin (Deputy of Gender Equality, Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Republic of Indonesia) and J‑PAL affiliated professor Seema Jayachandran (Northwestern University; Chair, J‑PAL’s Gender sector) shared insights on programs from the Government of Indonesia and around the world. Read the recap and watch the recording »
[Webinar recap] Towards an Evidence-Informed Development Agenda for Egypt: Fostering Government-Research Partnerships
J-PAL Middle East and North Africa at the American University in Cairo recently co-hosted a roundtable discussion with UNICEF Egypt, featuring H.E. Nevine El-Kabbag (Minister of Social Solidarity, Egypt), and J-PAL affiliated professor Rema Hanna (Harvard; Scientific Director, J-PAL Southeast Asia). The discussion identified key national development priorities for the Government of Egypt and where evidence can help meet these goals. Read the recap »
FEATURED TRAININGS
[January 12] Apply to the Jobs and Opportunity Initiative in Brazil's capacity building workshop
As part of the Jobs and Opportunity Initiative in Brazil’s social incubation process, which helps organizations develop evaluation proposals that can be funded through the initiative, J-PAL Latin American and the Caribbean will host a capacity building workshop in Portuguese for organizations running social programs focused on Brazil’s labor market. Participants will learn about the design and implementation of rigorous evaluations and make progress on building their own evaluation proposals. Applications are due by January 12, and the workshop will take place January 17–21. Read our recent blog post and apply now »
[January 23] Apply to the Research Incubator: Designing Randomized Evaluations for Humanitarian Interventions workshop
J-PAL Europe will host a three-day evaluation design workshop tailored to the interests of humanitarian organizations. J-PAL affiliated professors and staff will guide participants through the process of designing a randomized evaluation. By the end of the training, participants will understand the key elements of rigorous evaluation design in the context of their own projects or interventions. The workshop will be held in person in Paris, France, pending public health guidelines. Applications are due January 23, and the training will take place March 8–10. Learn more and apply »
[February 1] Enroll in the MicroMasters spring semester
The next semester of our online MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy (DEDP) begins February 1. Learn coding in R while building a strong foundation in probability and statistics in 14.310x Data Analysis for Social Scientists, gain an introduction to empirical research in development economics in 14.73x The Challenges of Global Poverty, and learn how to design randomized evaluations and implement them in the field in J-PAL 102x Designing and Running Randomized Evaluations. Students who complete the full DEDP credential are eligible to apply for the on-campus Master’s in DEDP at MIT. Learn more and register »
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
FCDO appoints new chief economist
Devex
Research should guide spending for K-12 Covid relief funds
The Hill
A 'big push' to lift people out of poverty
Phys.org
California takes next major step for data system to improve supports for students and families
CA.gov
NEW RESEARCH PAPERS
Crowd-Out in School-Based Health Interventions: Evidence from India’s Midday Meals Program
James Berry, Saurabh Mehta, Priya Mukherjee, Hannah Ruebeck, Gauri Kartini Shastry
Poverty Alleviation and Interhousehold Transfers: Evidence from BRAC’s Graduation Program in Bangladesh
Selim Gulesci
Unlocking the Benefits of Credit Through Saving
Sanghamitra Warrier Mukherjee, Lauren Falcao Bergquist, Marshall Burke, Edward Miguel
Private but Misunderstood? Evidence on Measuring Intimate Partner Violence via Self-Interviewing in Rural Liberia and Malawi
David Sungho Park, Shilpa Aggarwal, Dahyeon Jeong, Naresh Kumar, Jonathan Robinson, Alan Spearot