Blog

News

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

young entrepreneur of small company putting a adhesive note on glass in office during team meeting formulating business strategies.

Building venture markets where none exist: Coordination, capital, and evidence

By
Access to finance is a foundational driver of inclusive and sustainable economic development. By expanding access to financial services, enabling innovation, and facilitating market participation, finance can empower households and firms, reduce poverty, and unlock growth opportunities. Over the...
man giving his credit card to a woman in a pos service kiosk

How data and AI are reshaping access to finance

By
Access to financial services like banking and credit is a foundational driver of inclusive and sustainable economic development. By expanding access to financial services, enabling innovation, and facilitating people to buy, sell, and compete in the market, households and businesses can be empowered...
A man walks through arid land carrying buckets filled with small plants

The Evidence Effect: Evidence for action in conflict and crisis

The people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance are among those hardest hit by cuts to foreign aid. With humanitarian funding at historic lows, many essential services are being scaled back or suspended altogether, leading to preventable deaths and putting millions more lives at risk. Restoring...
Workers in a ptivate garment factory

The Evidence Effect: What we’ve learned working with the private sector for inclusive growth

The private sector is a fundamental force for driving global prosperity. For corporations and investors, there’s enormous opportunity in low- and middle-income countries’ growing markets and talent. What’s less clear is how to partner most effectively for maximum impact: How can multinationals...
VO secretary and members endorsing a beneficiary enterprise plan

Lessons from the field: How last-mile agents are delivering the largest government-led scale-up of the Graduation Approach

A cadre of 5,000 Master Resource Persons (MRPs) has been working in the Indian state of Bihar to implement the Government of Bihar’s Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana (SJY), an adaptation of the Graduation Approach.
Participants at South South Learning Journey event

Building effective social protection programs through government and researcher partnerships: Reflections from a MENA-SEA South-South Learning Journey

In a critical moment for global social protection systems, policymakers from Egypt and Indonesia recently came together in Jakarta for the groundbreaking event, South-South Learning Journey.
A woman working in a leather textile shop.

Expanding access to financing for SMEs

Access to finance is critical for firms to grow, innovate, and create jobs that help workers escape poverty. However, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide are often underserved by financial institutions. In this blog, we explore early findings on SME financing for policymakers...
A craft store employee in Cianjur, West Java.

Using alternative data and artificial intelligence to expand financial inclusion: Evidence-based insights

Firms using innovative credit-scoring (ICS) have emerged to help banks and peer-to-peer lenders predict potential borrowers’ likelihood to repay a loan. In contrast to traditional credit scoring models that use credit history, ICS uses artificial intelligence to evaluate data unrelated to a borrower...