The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,100 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,100 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
Our affiliated professors are based at over 130 universities and conduct randomized evaluations around the world to design, evaluate, and improve programs and policies aimed at reducing poverty. They set their own research agendas, raise funds to support their evaluations, and work with J-PAL staff on research, policy outreach, and training.
Our Board of Directors, which is composed of J-PAL affiliated professors and senior management, provides overall strategic guidance to J-PAL, our sector programs, and regional offices.
We host events around the world and online to share results and policy lessons from randomized evaluations, to build new partnerships between researchers and practitioners, and to train organizations on how to design and conduct randomized evaluations, and use evidence from impact evaluations.
Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters, and connect with us for media inquiries.
Based at leading universities around the world, our experts are economists who use randomized evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. Connect with us for all media inquiries and we'll help you find the right person to shed insight on your story.
J-PAL is based at MIT in Cambridge, MA and has seven regional offices at leading universities in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
J-PAL is based at MIT in Cambridge, MA and has seven regional offices at leading universities in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Our global office is based at the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It serves as the head office for our network of seven independent regional offices.
Led by affiliated professors, J-PAL sectors guide our research and policy work by conducting literature reviews; by managing research initiatives that promote the rigorous evaluation of innovative interventions by affiliates; and by summarizing findings and lessons from randomized evaluations and producing cost-effectiveness analyses to help inform relevant policy debates.
Led by affiliated professors, J-PAL sectors guide our research and policy work by conducting literature reviews; by managing research initiatives that promote the rigorous evaluation of innovative interventions by affiliates; and by summarizing findings and lessons from randomized evaluations and producing cost-effectiveness analyses to help inform relevant policy debates.
How do policies affecting private sector firms impact productivity gaps between higher-income and lower-income countries? How do firms’ own policies impact economic growth and worker welfare?
How can we identify effective policies and programs in low- and middle-income countries that provide financial assistance to low-income families, insuring against shocks and breaking poverty traps?
Andrés Gómez Assan is a Senior Finance and Administration Associate at J-PAL LAC where he mainly supports the financial operations to ensure projects’ regular and smooth development.
The February edition of J-PAL North America's monthly newsletter highlights the fifth round of State and Local Innovation Competition proposals, evidence for boosts in Earned Income Tax Credit, and research on the relationship between physical activity and mental health.
Nada Rostom is a Research Associate at J-PAL MENA where she works on evaluating the impact of a program targeting irregular migration in Egypt in collaboration with the Egyptian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA).
Claudia Ruiz-Tagle is Associate Director of Finance and Administration at J-PAL LAC where she works on developing strategic plans, managing the Finance and Administration area, and supporting the Executive Management to fulfill financial sustainability.
Diego Escobar joined J-PAL LAC in 2015 and holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is currently working on an evaluation examining the impact of providing information to parents and students about vocational education schools' academic and labor...
Dan Levy is a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is currently involved in evaluations of a conditional cash transfer program in Jamaica and a set of education interventions in Burkina Faso. He also provides technical assistance and...
Why do randomized evaluations answer so-called “small” questions about the efficacy of social programs? Learn about using evidence to design better social policies, building trust in healthcare systems surrounding Covid-19 vaccination, and more in the March 2021 newsletter.
Alejandro J. Ganimian is an Education Post-Doctoral Fellow at J-PAL South Asia, where he works with Karthik Muralidharan (co-chair of J-PAL’s education program) and Esther Duflo (Scientific Director, J-PAL South Asia) to set a research agenda for education and human development, and develop new...