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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

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AI for social good: An evidence-informed agenda

In addition to questions about AI’s big-picture impacts, pressing questions remain about the effects specific use cases will have on outcomes in the real world. History gives us reason to be careful. Over the past two decades, new technologies launched with great promise often fell short when...
A collage of headshots of the researchers

Advancing agricultural transformation through locally-led research

The UM6P-J-PAL Applied Lab for Agirculture (UJALA) announced its first cohort of UJALA African Scholars.
Students before classes at a primary school in the village of El Arr in northern Sudan

Building girls’ agency at scale: Lessons from life skills programs in Africa

Last year, J-PAL published a policy brief and implementation guide synthesizing evidence from sixteen randomized evaluations of life skills programs for adolescent girls. The findings show that such approaches can be particularly effective in boosting self-efficacy (confidence in achieving certain...
Preschool in Brazil

Educação infantil com qualidade: o papel da formação dos professores

Com quase todas as crianças brasileiras de 4 a 5 anos matriculadas na pré-escola, surgem novas questões sobre como promover a qualidade nessa etapa da educação. Com base em evidências de programas implementados na América Latina, este artigo traz algumas evidências sobre elementos relacionados à...
Dr. Oluwaremilekun Adebisi

African Scholar Spotlight: Oluwaremilekun Adebisi

Through our African Scholars Program, we hope to help create more opportunities for African researchers to advance the research agenda on the continent through randomized evaluations. In this spotlight, we speak with Oluwaremilekun Adebisi of the University of Ilorin in Nigeria.
PhD students and faculty gather to mark the launch of the UM6P-J-PAL Applied Lab for Agriculture’s African Scholars Program

Creating partnership opportunities for early-career researchers in Africa

On September 17, 2025, the UM6P-J-PAL Applied Lab for Agriculture (UJALA) unveiled its new African Scholars Program at the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P)’s campus in Rabat. The program will support early‑career African researchers to become leaders in rigorous, policy‑relevant randomized...
headshot of Abdul-Basi

African Scholar Spotlight: Abdul-Basit Tampuli Abukari

This post is part of our ongoing series showcasing the work and perspectives of economists from the African continent who are leading randomized evaluations. Through our African Scholars Program, we hope to help create more opportunities for African researchers to advance the research agenda on the...
A woman teaches a class of young children in a nursery.

When childcare subsidies and employment services are not enough: How social norms shape women's choices in Egypt

How do we ensure we are addressing the correct barriers to women's empowerment in Egypt? This blog unpacks why childcare might not be the right solution to supporting women's employment and increasing gender equity in Greater Cairo.