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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

Rwanda agricultural landscape

J-PAL and UM6P launch new agriculture research lab to improve food security and support evidence-informed decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa

On October 10, J-PAL in partnership with University Mohammed VI Polytechnic launched the UM6P-J-PAL Agricultural Lab for Africa. Chaired by Tavneet Suri (MIT, J-PAL Agriculture sector Co-Chair), the lab will be hosted at University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco, with the goal of...
A student studies in a library

Applying to PhD programs: Advice from J-PAL affiliates

This post is part of a blog series offering advice for prospective PhD students. The blog post “Is a PhD right for me?” lays out a series of questions and tips to help potential candidates decide whether to pursue a PhD in the first place. This post covers advice on how to write a great PhD...
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African Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Robertson Khataza

Through our African Scholars Program, we hope to help create more opportunities for African researchers to advance the research agenda on the continent through randomized evaluations. In this spotlight, we speak with Robertson Khataza of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources...
Headshot of Amy Finkelstein, wearing black shirt, in front of wooden door

Affiliate spotlight: An interview with Amy Finkelstein on how randomized evaluations provide key insights for her new book on health insurance reform

Amy Finkelstein, co-scientific director of J-PAL North America, co-authored the book We’ve Got You Covered with Liran Einav, which examines the health care system in the United States and proposes how it should be redesigned. In this post, J-PAL staff sat down with Amy to discuss how randomized...
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Understanding the role and importance of spillover effects

A new J-PAL evidence wrap-up highlights three randomized evaluations that consider the spillover effects of three health care interventions. In this post, we discuss what spillover effects are, a summary of the highlighted studies highlighted, and the benefits to policymakers in considering...
Students at event held in Universidad Catolica Chile

Inspiring students to explore development careers in Chile and Guatemala

While many tend to associate economics primarily with careers in investments and banking, development economics offers an alternative avenue that may be worth exploring. To help broaden this general perception, J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) recently held two events at partner...
Laptop computer open to J-PAL's Evaluatying Social Programs webpage

Growing a global community for impact evaluation: J-PAL’s online courses

This is the third blog in a series illustrating stories of how J-PAL’s training courses have built new policy and research partnerships and strengthened existing ones to advance evidence-informed decision-making. The first blog in the series highlights two meaningful examples from J-PAL’s Evaluating...
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So, you got a null result. Now what?

While a null result is likely not what you were hoping for, and while null results can (unfortunately) be more difficult to publish, they can spur just as important insights and policy implications as significant results. However, to learn from a null result, it is necessary to understand the why...