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

Commuters ride an escalator in London

Promoting upward mobility in partnership with state and local governments: The intersection of gender, race, health, and poverty alleviation

This blog post is part two of three in a series on how state and local governments in the United States can promote upward mobility in their communities. It is part of J-PAL North America’s work to develop a learning agenda that summarizes the core research priorities from state and local...
A world map with dots noting locations of GCCI projects.

Pushing the boundaries of governance, crime, and conflict research: Innovations in research, measurement, and design

In 2017, J-PAL and IPA jointly launched the Governance, Crime, and Conflict Initiative to increase our understanding of effective policies to promote peace and good governance, reduce crime, and support individuals and communities recovering from conflict. With three years of research behind us, we...
Two South African youths engaging in online skills training

Reducing labour market information frictions with skill certificates: Evidence from South Africa

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Limited information during a firm's hiring decision or a workseeker's search can lead to "information frictions" that may contribute to the high global youth unemployment rate. In a recently published paper, J-PAL affiliated researchers showed how assessing youth workseeker skills in South Africa...
A woman completes a digital cash transfer

The leaky bucket: Can digitization of social welfare programs reduce leakages?

Corruption and ineffective program implementation often result in leakages, which are particularly concerning when it comes to social welfare programs, including cash transfers. But with rapid technological innovation and increasing connectivity, does digitization have the potential to help reduce...
A woman wearing a hijab sits typing at a computer

Improving female labor force participation in MENA

Female labor force participation in MENA is the lowest globally. Evidence from recent randomized evaluations conducted in MENA help shed light on some reasons why participation rates are so low and what types of policies could help increase them.
A close-up of Kodjo Aflagah speaking while sitting at a table.

African Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Kodjo Aflagah

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Dr. Kodjo Aflagah joined the J-PAL Teaching at the Right Level and Digital Identification and Finance Initiative teams, having just completed his PhD in economics at the University of Maryland. His fields of specialization include development economics and applied econometrics, with a particular...
Faith Masekesa presents slides to a lecture hall.

African Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Faith Masekesa

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Dr. Faith Masekesa joined J-PAL Africa as a postdoctoral research fellow to support our administrative data partnership with the City of Cape Town. Her research interests span development economics, econometrics, experimental and behavioral economics, social protection and social policy.
A woman with a mask on puts a mask on a young girl

Designing adaptive social assistance during COVID-19: A recap from the Evidence for Egypt Spotlight Webinar

To address how existing social assistance programs in Egypt could be enhanced in response to COVID-19 and large external shocks in general, J-PAL MENA and UNICEF Egypt held a webinar on “Social Assistance Response to Large External Shocks in Egypt: What We Can Learn from Randomized Evaluations.”...