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?
The economic damage of Covid-19 represents the largest economic shock the world has experienced in decades. In Indonesia, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant economic disruption, with adverse impact on jobs and livelihoods, especially among the most vulnerable segments of society. This...
José Ignacio Longueira is a Survey Associate at J-PAL LAC where he works as a field supervisor for a pension savings program and is participating in the evaluation of a project on the inclusion and resettlement of migrants.
Imran Rasul is a Professor of Economics at University College London, Director of the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Co-Director of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre on Wealth Concentration, Inequality and the Economy. His...
Vishnu Padmanabhan is a Policy Manager at J-PAL South Asia where he supports regional outreach activities to promote evidence-based policy and programming for poverty alleviation.
Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation in Chile to study the impact of altering high school students’ beliefs about the returns of college degrees on their decisions to invest in college preparation and which program they choose.
Supreet Kaur is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research is in development economics and behavioral economics, with a focus on labor markets.
Researchers are evaluating the effects of providing farmers with access to maize processing services that could improve maize quality on their input decisions.
Researchers partnered with financial providers in the United Kingdom to evaluate the effectiveness of various disclosure designs aimed at supporting consumers’ financial decisions across savings products. Although most disclosures increased the number of consumers that switched to higher-yielding savings account, the effects were relatively modest, even among those who received the most effectively designed disclosure and those with substantial financial incentives to switch. These findings suggest that low attention limits the potential of financial disclosures and that disclosures need to be more explicitly designed to better capture consumers' attention.
Researchers studied the effects of India's nationwide lockdown on child immunization in the north Indian state of Rajasthan. Comparing the status and timeliness of key first-year immunization milestones among children who turned 12 months old before, during, and after the lockdown, researchers found...
Krithika Rajagopalan joined CLEAR/J-PAL South Asia as a Senior Training Associate in the year 2020. She supports the training team in developing and disseminating knowledge material on Monitoring & Evaluation.
M Srinivasa Rao Mittapally is a Finance and Administration Manager at J-PAL South Asia. He holds a Master's in Commerce from Osmania University and possesses a total of 12 years of experience in the development sector.