Policy Insights

What have we learned from randomized evaluations that policymakers, practitioners, and funders can use to improve social programs? J-PAL’s Policy Insights, organized by sector, highlight lessons emerging across multiple studies and the mechanisms that help explain the results.

J-PAL’s Sector Chairs and staff draw these insights from relevant randomized evaluations, updating and adding insights as the body of evidence grows. Each Policy Insight briefly summarizes their perspective on the evidence on a specific topic, with links to the original research and policy summaries. Read this blog post for more information about how we develop Policy Insights.

When combined with a detailed understanding of context and program implementation, we hope these insights can be practical inputs for policy and program design. For examples of how insights from randomized evaluations have informed policy, visit our Evidence to Policy page.

Teaching business skills to support microentrepreneurs

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Traditional business skills training programs lead to modest increases in microentrepreneurs’ profits and sales. Alternative training programs can lead to larger impacts, but some programs require more definitive evidence of their effectiveness.
A street with fruit stands and sellers.

Encouraging micro and small enterprises to formalize

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Informal firms are defined as those that operate outside of the legal and regulatory system and are therefore not registered for the required business operating licenses. Operating formally may allow firms to grow by expanding their customer base, paying fewer fines, and gaining access to more...

Supporting firm growth through consulting and business training

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Economists have long identified large differences in productivity between countries and between firms. One potential explanation for the persistent gap is that some firms have better management practices than others.