The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

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

Blog

Announcing J-PAL’s Policy Insights

What have we learned from randomized evaluations that policymakers, practitioners, and funders can use to improve social programs? J-PAL’s library of short briefs called Policy Insights highlight lessons emerging across multiple studies and the mechanisms that help explain the results.

Participants at workshop

Event

J-PAL Executive Education: Evaluating Social Programs

J-PAL South Asia is offering a five-day course on Evaluating Social Programs in New Delhi, India from July 16 to 20, 2018. The course will provide a thorough understanding of randomized evaluations and pragmatic step-by-step training on how to conduct an evaluation. Learn more and apply by May 27.

Learners work together during workshop

Blog

Expanding access to higher education for refugees

Starting in the summer of 2018, ReACT Hub, an MIT initiative that designs and deploys new learning opportunities for displaced populations, will sponsor a cohort of refugees to join the MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy, providing selected learners with access to scholarships for the five courses, remote work with paid internships, and in-person skill-building workshops.

Municipalities are selected for audit via public lottery

Evaluation

Do government audits reduce corruption?

Billions of dollars in government funds go missing each year due to corruption, but there is limited consensus on how best to tackle this global challenge. Researchers leveraged data from Brazil’s long-standing anticorruption program, which holds public lotteries to randomly select municipalities for audit. These government audits, aimed at uncovering the misuse of public resources, reduced corruption by promoting both electoral and judicial accountability.

908 ongoing and completed randomized evaluations in 79 countries