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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.

J-PAL Co-Founders Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo Awarded Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

J-PAL co-founders Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, with longtime J-PAL affiliate Michael Kremer, were jointly awarded the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The prize was awarded “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”

Turning an economics education into solutions with impact

It’s an ambitious goal: to change the status quo. Yet, this is just what Alan Al Yussef has set out to do. As one of the first people to earn the MITx Data, Economics, and Development Policy MicroMasters credential, he’s working to improve lives in the Middle East through a career in development...

Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT teams up with Egyptian organizations for Cairo event

Release: Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT teams up with Egyptian organizations for Cairo event

Impact of Loans and Grants on Microenterprise Growth in Egypt

Mohamed El Komi
In partnership with three microfinance institutions (MFIs), researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of providing loans, cash grants, or in-kind grants on microentrepreneurs’ business decisions, outcomes, and overall welfare. All three types of capital assistance led to...

Estimating the Human Costs of Debtor Prisons

In Egypt, a sizable portion of the prison population is incarcerated solely for failing to repay private debts, highlighting serious concerns about the social, economic, and legal consequences of debtor imprisonment. Researchers are conducting two randomized evaluations, the first tests the impact...

Digital Marketing for Microenterprises and Small Businesses in Egypt

Researchers aim to identify which firms can benefit from engaging with and advertising on digital advertising platforms, to explore the reasons why they may not already be doing so, and to test whether input-based versus results-based approaches are most cost-effective for policy.