The Evidence Effect

Evidence for more effective social policy in Europe and North America

Students and teacher in classroom

Generating rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of programs designed to reduce poverty is not just the work of lower and middle-income countries. Countries across Europe and North America are also grappling with how to best tackle deep-rooted and pressing social challenges. These include bolstering social safety nets and better targeting social protection measures, improving access to quality education, helping citizens find employment opportunities, promoting safer communities, and adapting to climate change.

Read the eighth post in our Evidence Effect series

Evidence in action

The Evidence Effect highlights examples of life-changing programs that warrant more attention, investment, and consideration for scaling. Explore them below, drawn from more than 1,200 completed randomized evaluations led by researchers in our network.

A smarter way to reduce violence? Teach yourself to think differently

Training people to think differently in challenging situations can reduce violence and make communities safer.

High-impact tutoring to help students catch up

Tutoring programs in the United States consistently lead to large improvements in learning outcomes across a range of school grades and educational settings. 

Summer jobs, better futures

Paid summer jobs programs level the playing field for young people from low-income communities, raising summer employment rates and income and reducing involvement with the

Encouraging government innovation through policy labs

Evidence-informed policy labs in governments help agencies pilot, test, and scale effective solutions for priority issues while also strengthening data and evidence use capacity.

From bias to belonging through perspective-taking

Perspective-taking—a psychological approach that encourages people to envision spending a day in another person's shoes—can foster trust, inclusion, and cooperation in communities

Act before disaster strikes

Providing quick financial support to families in advance of extreme weather events can improve their resilience and recovery. 

Giving cash in humanitarian crises

Cash and voucher assistance helps people affected by crisis meet their basic needs and improve food security. 

Targeted job training can open doors

Well-designed job training programs help people land better-paying jobs.

Finding and financing businesses that are ready to grow

Tailoring financing for small and mid-sized businesses that are most likely to grow can unlock their potential to increase sales and profits, create jobs, and strengthen the local

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo joint headshot

The objectives of aid are often unclear.... Reaffirming the most basic principle would provide clarity: The goal should be to invest in projects that will have the largest impact on the quality of life of poor people around the world.

—Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, The Financial Times, March 2025

Discover more perspectives from the J-PAL network

 


Photos: 

(1) Two farmers uproot rice seedlings for transplantation during monsoon season in India. Credit: Shutterstock.com

(2) A woman laughs as an enumerator measures her height in her home in Borong, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The measurement was part of an impact evaluation of an information campaign focused on preventing malnutrition. Credit: Miranda Putri, J-PAL

(3) Credit: Official, Shutterstock.com