Evaluations

Policy Publications

Search our database of policy briefcases, bulletins, and evidence reviews. Briefcases summarize the results and policy recommendations from one randomized evaluation, while bulletins synthesize the broader policy lessons emerging from multiple evaluations on the same topic. Evidence reviews summarize an existing academic literature review, like a handbook chapter or white paper, for a policy audience.

Displaying 19-27 of 80
Three African women sit together and smile at the photographer.

Commitments to Save

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
May 25, 2021
Commitment savings products have increased savings and investments in low- and middle-income settings. Providers can improve the impacts of commitment savings products by including design features that meet the needs of the local population.
Health care workers in Sierra Leone put on personal protective equipment during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak.

Health Care Communities Can Count On

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
March 9, 2021
  • Darin Christensen
  • Johannes Haushofer
  • Bilal Siddiqi
  • Maarten Voors
Community monitoring and nonfinancial award programs for health clinics in Sierra Leone improved clinic utilization, patient satisfaction, and reporting during the 2014 Ebola crisis. Community monitoring improved child health and reduced mortality among Ebola patients.
Women wait in line while holding up voter identification cards

Improving Lives through Evidence: Adapting to a Changing World 2020-21

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
March 8, 2021
Last year brought new challenges and demanded innovative solutions. Read how our research, policy, and capacity building work evolved to adapt to lockdowns and meet new evidence needs in the online 2020-21 edition of “Improving Lives Through Evidence."
A young child receiving immunization drops

Customizing Performance Pay to Overcome Health Worker Procrastination in Pakistan

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
January 6, 2021
  • James Andreoni
  • Karrar Hussain
  • Muhammad Yasir Khan
  • Charles Sprenger
Tailoring performance-based incentives according to health providers’ innate characteristics reduced procrastination and increased polio vaccination in Pakistan.
A man tutors two young students

The Transformative Potential of Tutoring for Pre K-12 Learning Outcomes: Lessons from Randomized Evaluations

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
September 16, 2020
J-PAL’s Tutoring Evidence Review aims to serve as a resource as education leaders, policymakers, and funders work to combat the Covid-19 learning loss, improve student learning outcomes, and minimize the growth of academic disparities.

Building Capacity, Overcoming Obstacles, and Creating Evidence: An Evaluation Guide for State and Local Policymakers

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
August 13, 2020
Since 2015, J-PAL’s State and Local Innovation Initiative has partnered with state and local governments to generate rigorous evidence on what works to reduce poverty around the United States. J-PAL North America has received more than 100 letters of interest from state and local governments across...
Sule Alan talks to children in a classroom in Turkey.

Understanding Each Other: Improving Inter-Ethnic Cohesion in Schools in Turkey

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
August 4, 2020
  • Ceren Baysan
  • Mert Gumren
  • Elif Kubilay
An interactive classroom program encouraging students to consider one another’s perspectives in Turkey lowered peer violence, improved relationships between refugee and Turkish students, and increased prosocial behaviors like trust, cooperation, and altruism.
A smiling woman stands in the center of a group of other women.

Enhancing Women’s Agency: Cross-Cutting Lessons From Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
July 23, 2020
This Evidence Review highlights key research findings on evidence that cuts across multiple domains of women’s agency and identifies research questions that remain to be answered.
women holding hand out to receive medication

On Track: Health Care, Patient Data, and Provider Performance

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
June 8, 2020
Biometric tracking increased the likelihood that patients adhered to recommended tuberculosis treatment, improved health worker attendance, and reduced misreporting of patient data by health workers.