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

A mother and her child playing at a park.

What recent findings from the Baby’s First Years study reveals about cash’s impact on family life of young children in the United States

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Recent findings from the Baby's First Years study reveal mixed impacts: while cash support helped families and children in some narrow ways, it did not have broad effects across other aspects of family life. Several factors should be considered when interpreting these results.
A group of people attending RST.

Supporting early career research staff through North America’s Research Staff Training

J-PAL North America hosted an in-person Research Staff Training (RST) in August 2025, welcoming 29 participants to a three-day course on randomized evaluations.
Students and teacher in classroom

The Evidence Effect: Evidence for more effective social policy in Europe and North America

Generating rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of programs designed to reduce poverty is not just the work of lower and middle-income countries. Countries across Europe and North America are also grappling with how to best tackle deep-rooted and pressing social challenges. These include...
An image of a group of people working at the Puerto Rico trainings

Fostering a culture of evidence-based policies in Puerto Rico

Research Manager Laura Ruiz and consultant Kimberly Massa share exciting updates on our ongoing work in Puerto Rico, the latest in-person training, and upcoming capacity-building opportunities for future collaborators.
A group of people working together.

Ideas to Implementation: Engaging the community to evaluate an extended stay detoxification program in Pierce County, Washington

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  • Sarah Appling
  • Margo Burnison
  • Trish Crocker
  • Trevor Gratz
  • Anika Moran
In this blog, Pierce County Human Services (Washington State) share insights into implementing a community engagement strategy within a randomized evaluation—drawing from their experience with the Fentanyl Detox Program.
A group of people working on Pursuit projects

Randomization’s capacity for flexibility: How to build randomization into a competitive, multi-step application process

This post discusses an evaluation design by researchers at J-PAL North America and Pursuit to measure the impact of the Pursuit's sectoral employment program, showing how randomization can be integrated into the application process without compromising enrollment preferences.
A group of people working together on a round table.

Supporting emerging researchers through Economics Pathways

J-PAL North America launches Economic Pathways, a targeted effort to empower the next generation of economists researching critical policy questions.
J-PAL and San Diego County staff at Training Session

Ideas to Implementation: Scoping evaluation possibilities to strengthen Climate Action Plan implementation in San Diego County

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The County of San Diego’s Office of Evaluation, Performance, and Analytics (OEPA), Planning and Development Services (PDS) teams, J-PAL staff, and UCSD researchers discuss their efforts to explore innovative evaluation possibilities aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Climate Action...