Blog

News

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

Will Dobbie headshot

Affiliate spotlight: Will Dobbie on conducting randomized evaluations to reduce inequalities in the United States

Will Dobbie is a J-PAL affiliate and an assistant professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. He is a recipient of a 2019 Sloan Research Fellowship, awarded to “early-career scientists of outstanding promise” in recognition of “distinguished performance and a unique potential...

Building evidence, advancing policy, and impacting lives at the state and local level

In February 2019, J-PAL North America hosted Building Evidence, Advancing Policy, Impacting Lives, - the third annual convening of J-PAL’s State and Local Innovation Initiative - to bring government leaders together on MIT’s campus. Together with academic researchers, funders, and research...

Committing to a randomized evaluation: The scariest and smartest thing we ever did

By
  • Shane DeRolf
My name is Shane DeRolf. I am the founder and CEO of Big Word Club, a digital learning company committed to improving the vocabularies of every kid in America. It all started about 25 years ago when I quit my job to pursue a dream. That dream was to create great media that helped kids think, learn...

Preparing for 2018 elections in the "Year of the Woman": Lessons from India

If many more women are elected to office, we don’t yet know what impacts such an influx might have on policy decisions and gender norms in US society. However, many J-PAL affiliated researchers have explored this question in India by taking advantage of a naturally occurring experimental design.
Amy Finkelstein, 2018 MacArthur Fellowship award winner

Affiliate spotlight: An interview with Amy Finkelstein on how her recent MacArthur Fellow award opens up new possibilities in innovative research

By
J-PAL affiliate Amy Finkelstein discusses how her recent MacArthur Fellow award opens up new possibilities in innovative research.