J-PAL North America, based at MIT, leads J-PAL’s work in the North America region. J-PAL North America conducts randomized evaluations, builds partnerships for evidence-informed policymaking, and helps partners scale up effective programs.
Our work spans a wide range of sectors including health care, housing, criminal justice, education, and economic mobility. We leverage research by affiliated professors from universities across the continent and a full-time staff of researchers, policy experts, and administrative professionals to generate and disseminate rigorous evidence about which anti-poverty social policies work and why.
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Blog
Blog
BAE Incubator partner series, part five: Seeking systems-level change to address housing instability
Homelessness in the United States is a pressing issue that requires increased research on effective strategies to address it and foster long-term housing stability. With grant funding from Google.org—Google’s philanthropic arm—the Bay Area Evaluation (BAE) Incubator supported Bay Area service...
Blog
Blog
Building research partnerships to address the opioid crisis in Minnesota, part two
Mireille Jacobson (University of Southern California), Weston Merrick (Minnesota Management and Budget or MMB), and Adam Sacarny (Columbia University) sit down with J-PAL staff to discuss the results of their randomized evaluation assessing how various letters affected physicians’ use of Minnesota’s...
News
In the news
New governors can create vital policies by following the evidence
In a world with limited resources, the agenda setting process to achieve policy goals requires making difficult decisions about which programs to invest in. To ensure resources are spent on programs that actually work, new governors should rely on evidence. Evidence from randomized evaluations can...
Blog
Blog
Introducing Matthew Notowidigdo, new co-scientific director of J-PAL North America
In this interview, the new Co-Scientific Director of J-PAL North America, Matthew Notowidigdo discusses his background and previous work with J-PAL North America, and he and Amy Finkelstein outline their priorities and goals for their work together as co-scientific directors.