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.

Young students in India sitting outside

Publication

Reshaping Adolescents’ Gender Attitudes: Encouraging Students to Discuss Gender Equality in the Classroom

A series of interactive classroom discussions about gender equality over two and a half years increased students’ support for gender equality and led students to enact more gender-equitable behavior in the state of Haryana, India.

Policy Insight

Facilitating savings among smallholder farmers to smooth or increase consumption

Offering savings products to smallholder farmers did not transform agricultural investment or output in six studies in sub-Saharan Africa. In a few cases, savings products sometimes benefited farmers by providing a form of risk protection and by helping them smooth consumption over time.

Blog

Announcing J-PAL’s new Innovations in Data and Experiments for Action (IDEA) Initiative

Around the world, vast amounts of data are now being digitally collected or stored, which creates tremendous opportunities to transform lives through better social policies. Using these data sets in creative and innovative ways to evaluate programs and therefore improve outcomes is a vital step toward making significant progress in the fight against poverty worldwide.

A healthcare worker and mother with a baby in sub-Saharan Africa.

Publication

In the Business of Saving Lives

In Uganda, an incentivized community health promoter program increased health care access, knowledge, and health-promoting behaviors among households, leading to a 27 percent reduction in child mortality.

969 ongoing and completed randomized evaluations in 83 countries