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?
Christopher Knittel is the George P. Shultz Professor of Applied Economics in the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the Director of MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and co-directs the E2e project, a research initiative between MIT...
Julia Kaufman is a Policy Manager at J-PAL Africa, where she develops partnerships with researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to generate and use evidence on private sector development, firm growth, and job creation.
Archana is a Senior Research and Policy Manager at J-PAL Africa, where she leads the Water, Air, and Energy Lab in collaboration with the City of Cape Town.
Before joining J-PAL, Tasleem worked as a legal administrator in a law firm where she gained experience in organizational, analytical, and communication skills.
Bonnyface Ndung’u is a Policy Manager at J-PAL Africa, where he spearheads efforts to increase access to and use of water treatment products. He works with J-PAL Africa’s Health Lead and Scientific Director Pascaline Dupas and the Rwandan Biomedical Center to design, pilot, and scale a chlorine...
Tavneet Suri is a Louis E. Seley Professor of Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Co-Chair of J-PAL's Agriculture sector. She is an NBER Faculty Research Fellow, a Junior Affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), a Research Affiliate...
Rema Hanna is the Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South East Asia Studies and a Co-Director of the Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) research program at the Center for International Development, Harvard University. In addition, she’s the Scientific Director for Southeast Asia at the Abdul Latif Jameel...