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Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.

Can AI make the poor world richer?

It promises a level playing field. So have past technologies.

Political Polarization

Political polarisation has been rising sharply in both advanced and developing democracies, with implications for democratic accountability, institutional trust, and social cohesion. This VoxDevLit reviews recent empirical research on the causes and consequences of polarisation, with a focus on...

October 2025 Global Monthly Newsletter

In the October edition of our newsletter, we highlight solutions to current policy challenges around the world: A new AI evidence alliance, a market-based approach to cutting pollution in India, strategies to help people enroll in health insurance in the US, boosting preschool learning in Brazil...

Video | World's first 'air pollution market' in Surat chosen as finalist for Earthshot Prize

An air pollution market is a 'cap and trade' scheme to reduce emissions from industries, unlike the current command and control regulations. It was pioneered in Surat by JPAL South Asia and UChicago's EPIC Centre with Gujarat Pollution Control Board, and is now a finalist for the Earthshot Prize...

Government of Punjab Scales A Novel Drug Prevention Program

Researchers partner with the Government of Punjab to scale a curriculum that combats misbeliefs among youth about drug experimentation and addiction to all government-run secondary schools in the state, reaching more than 750k students.

Earthshot Prize Names State of Gujarat a Finalist for Groundbreaking Work on Air Pollution

Researchers affiliated with J-PAL helped the Indian state of Gujarat design and launch the world's first particulate pollution market. That project is now a finalist for one of the world’s most prestigious and impactful environmental award, The Earthshot Prize.

The impact of livelihood activities among Rohingya refugees

Eight years into the Rohingya refugee crisis, sustainable solutions are urgently needed. This study assessed the impact of paid work, cash transfers, and volunteer activities on the psychosocial wellbeing of 2,513 married refugee couples in Cox’s Bazar.

Direct cash transfers: ‘Studies show that on average people save money for productive uses or invest’

Iqbal Dhaliwal, Global Executive Director, J-PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab), which is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) economics department and works to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence, believes that cash transfers on...