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

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Strengthening randomized evaluations with qualitative research, part 4: Oregon health insurance experiment

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For the final part of our blog series on incorporating qualitative research into randomized evaluations, we spoke with Associate Professor of Social Work and co-author of the Oregon Health Insurance experiment, Heidi Allen, about how in-depth interviews with study participants helped the research...
People walk through an outdoor market in Chile.

Data collection, new RCTs, and policy guidance to inform pandemic response and recovery

The past year has been filled with tragedy and sacrifice—but, critically, also innovation, as researchers and policymakers addressed new challenges with creative solutions. Existing and newly generated evidence has informed many policies over the past year, providing a roadmap for incorporating...
Poll workers wear personal protective gear outside of election sites in Indonesia in 2020.

Generating evidence-based insights for good governance during and after Covid-19

How to achieve good governance—as measured by accountability, government effectiveness, and control of corruption—is a question that has been at the heart of J-PAL’s Governance Initiative (GI) since its inception in 2011. In response, GI funds rigorous experimental research projects tackling a...
A smiling girl holds a piece of paper.

Shifting social and gender norms for improved development outcomes: A recap from the Global Evidence for Egypt Spotlight Webinar

While Egypt has made some progress towards gender equality and girls’ and women's empowerment, traditional gender roles and power dynamics continue to persist. Egypt has one of the highest gender gaps in the world, ranking 134th out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender...
A woman sits and smiles

A five-question women’s agency index created using machine learning and qualitative interviews

Women’s agency, or their ability to make and act on their choices for their lives, is an important concept in research and policy related to gender equality. Many policies aim to increase women’s agency, which could be a means for them to improve their health, economic security, and decision-making...
Two men sitting down listening to a facilitator of the UBL program

Preventing intimate partner violence by engaging men: Evidence from Unite for Better Life in Ethiopia

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A growing body of evidence suggests that gender inequality, especially social norms that endorse violence against women, is one of the main drivers of IPV. What programs can effectively build more gender equitable attitudes and behaviors, and do these behaviors translate into reductions in violence...
A women wearing a face mask sits outside with two children, also wearing face masks.

Motivating new education research and scale for COVID-19 recovery

J-PAL is launching a one-time Education Research and Scale for COVID-19 Recovery innovation competition to fund randomized evaluations and scale-ups of strategies to improve access, quality, equity, and relevance of pre-primary, primary, and post-primary education in response to the ongoing COVID...
Girls in uniforms sit in a classroom in India

Reflections from seven years of research in J-PAL’s Post-Primary Education Initiative

J-PAL’s Post-Primary Education Initiative has funded more than 140 projects since its inception in 2013. We reflect on what we’ve learned through this research—and where we go from here.