J-PAL

Does timing matter for disaster relief? New @nber.org study by J-PAL affiliate Gregory Lane & coauthors finds: Cash within days of floods → better food security & well-being vs. same cash months later. Read the paper featuring evidence from #Bangladesh & #Nepal: https://bit.ly/3XBHWPU

Early childhood programs in Indonesia—and many other countries—face gaps in access, quality, & delivery. Earlier this year, policymakers & practitioners met to discuss how a systems-based strategy can help strengthen these programs. Read more about three key levers of change ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4oXRWix

How are parents embracing AI tools for their kids? A new @nber.org study by J-PAL affiliates Leonardo Bursztyn, Christopher Roth & coauthors finds: Social pressure drives AI adoption. Read the paper: https://bit.ly/4pasJ46

How can life skills programs that support girls’ confidence, education, and decision-making be scaled effectively? A recent post on the J-PAL blog draws lessons from research and policy dialogue across Africa.

📖 Read more: https://bit.ly/3JJKZlR

Twelve iterative A/B tests to optimize tutoring for scale In a series of 12 iterative A/B tests, researchers compared two versions of our tutoring program in Botswana to see which performed better. At the end of each test, results were compared and whichever...

When expanding a social program, maintaining impact at scale is hard. What if it wasn’t?

In our new guest post on @j-pal.bsky.social, we share how 12 iterative A/B tests helped us optimize phone-based tutoring, boosting effectiveness and cutting costs.

Read: povertyactionlab.org/blog/11-20-2...

A Conversation with Abhijit Banerjee: Poor Economics, 15 Years On

📢 Nobel laureate and our co-gounder Abhijit Banerjee will be at @NYUAbuDhabi next Monday, Nov 24 for a conversation reflecting on Poor Economics fifteen years after its publication. In Abu Dhabi? Register now! https://bit.ly/43Ew03u

Twelve iterative A/B tests to optimize tutoring for scale In a series of 12 iterative A/B tests, researchers compared two versions of our tutoring program in Botswana to see which performed better. At the end of each test, results were compared and whichever...

In a new J-PAL guest blog, @youthimpactorg.bsky.social shares how running 12 iterative A/B tests helped optimize a tutoring program—finding that one test doubled the program's effectiveness. Read more about using iterative A/B tests to refine a program: https://bit.ly/4oOBfpA

Join Nobel laureate and J-PAL Co-Founder Abhijit Banerjee at NYU Abu Dhabi on 🗓️ Nov 24 as he provides a look at the shifting landscape of poverty research—and what the future may hold. 🔗 Register: https://bit.ly/43Ew03u

AI for social good: Supporting workers and businesses in LMICs Researchers in the J-PAL network have been using randomized evaluations to learn how to help people get jobs and how to help businesses grow for over two decades, drawing out insights to inform polici...

Can AI improve workplace efficiency without exacerbating inequality? In the second post in our AI blog series, we explore the possibilities and limitations of AI tools for workers and businesses, and outline urgent questions for future research. 🔗 https://bit.ly/4oH3uGR

Training brick manufacturers to reduce emissions in Bangladesh Pollution from coal-fired brick manufacturing is a major source of emissions in Bangladesh. Researchers joined forces with public health experts and engineers in Bangladesh to develop simple trainings...

📢 A new evidence-to-policy case study shows how changes to brick manufacturing helped informal workers reduce coal use and pollution while boosting profits in #Bangladesh. Now, it’s scaling across the country—and aims to scale beyond. 🔗 Read more: https://bit.ly/4ozmGpR

Leveraging the private sector to make markets work for farmers who face increased climate risk The J-PAL and IAFN side event will showcase evidence-backed interventions from J-PAL and CEGA's research portfolio to help farmers tap into markets to strengthen their resilience to economic and climate shocks. While adaptation often focuses on inputs l...

🌾 J-PAL at #COP30: Join us tomorrow for a panel with @cgiar.org on making markets work for farmers who face increased climate risk 🔗 Register to attend in person or stream it live here: bit.ly/4i0R4an

Evaluating Social Programs

Don’t miss your chance to join J-PAL’s free, self-paced #EvaluatingSocialPrograms course before it closes in early December. Learn how to design randomized evaluations and use evidence to measure impact 🎓 Enroll by Dec 2: https://bit.ly/3VHBfLa

Scaling a playful math curriculum to help children learn: Introducing the Every Child Counts Implementation Toolkit The world is facing an urgent foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) crisis, worsened by Covid. As organizations and governments around the world mobilize to address this crisis, J-PAL South Asia ha...

📚 How can playful math games transform foundational learning? Every Child Counts bridges intuitive math skills and formal learning, building on decades of research. 🔗 Explore J-PAL South Asia's new implementation toolkit to see how it’s scaling through NGOs & governments: https://bit.ly/3WSFdkU

Cheaper (and more effective) by the dozen: Evidence from 12 randomised A/B tests optimising tutoring for scale - What Works Hub for Global Education This paper presents iterative randomised A/B tests of a mobile phone numeracy tutoring programme to optimise efficiency and scalability.

Tutoring school children is effective, but hard to scale. Researchers @noamangrist.bsky.social, @ccullen.bsky.social, & @janicalapati.bsky.social used a novel A/B testing approach to enhance cost-effectiveness and scalability of a program in Botswana. 🔗 Read the new paper: https://bit.ly/3WYniJn

Crime and Violence Initiative (CVI) Scholars Program

📢 J-PAL's Crime and Violence Initiative Scholars Program offers researchers at universities in LMICs support for randomized evaluations that focus on preventing, mitigating, and responding to the effects of crime and violence. Applications are open until Nov 5—learn more: https://bit.ly/3SvNcTb

Crime and Violence Initiative (CVI) Scholars Program

J-PAL's Crime and Violence Initiative is funding new evaluations led by researchers based at universities in low- and middle-income countries through the CVI Scholars Program. 🔗 Learn more and apply by November 5: https://bit.ly/3SvNcTb

Evidence to Policy | Cash for Covid-19 Relief in South Africa A growing body of rigorous evaluations shows that unconditional cash transfers can improve health and welfare more effectively than traditional in-kind aid. ...

🚨 New from J-PAL Africa: During South Africa’s Covid lockdown, a cash transfer program was scaled rapidly to support millions—using research to guide real-time decisions. How did it happen? 🎥 Watch the short video: bit.ly/47aii9y

Webinar: Admissions for the DEDP Master's Program at MIT Attend our sixty-minute webinar on October 22 at 9:00 am ET to learn about the admissions process for MIT's Master of Applied Science in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP).

Applications for MIT's Master’s in Data, Econ, and Design of Policy program open in November! 🗓️ Learn everything you need to know—join us for a webinar *tomorrow* Oct 22 at 9 AM ET. Professor Sara Ellison and the team will be live to answer your questions. Register: https://bit.ly/3J6hAlD

Evidence to Policy | Cash for Covid-19 Relief in South Africa A growing body of rigorous evaluations shows that unconditional cash transfers can improve health and welfare more effectively than traditional in-kind aid. In this video, J-PAL affiliated professor Kate Orkin (University of Oxford) discusses how this e...

How can can evidence from a successful program in one country be applied in another? 🎥 Watch a new video from J-PAL Africa on how researchers and policymakers in #SouthAfrica used evidence from #Kenya to inform their pandemic response: 🎬 https://bit.ly/47aii9y

Evaluating Social Programs Randomized evaluations can be valuable tools for measuring the impact of social programs. Learn why and when to use them, and how their findings can inform the design of evidence-based policies and programs.

Interested in building your skills in impact evaluation but don't have the time or money to enroll in a full-time class? You can complete J-PAL’s free, online course (led by MIT professors!) on #EvaluatingSocialPrograms on your own schedule. https://bit.ly/3VHBfLa

Webinar: Admissions for the DEDP Master's Program at MIT Attend our sixty-minute webinar on October 22 at 9:00 am ET to learn about the admissions process for MIT's Master of Applied Science in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP).

Curious about the DEDP master’s program at MIT? Join our webinar on October 22 at 9 AM EST with MIT Prof Sara Ellison! 🗓️ Get insights on admissions, funding, and the two program tracks. Register: https://www.povertyactionlab.org/event/webinar-admissions-dedp-masters-program-mit

In case you missed it—we just launched the Emissions Markets Accelerator (EMA) with EPIC at the University of Chicago! 🌏 EMA will help governments design & implement cap-and-trade markets to cut pollution while driving growth.

🔗 https://bit.ly/4gUGnWi

#ClimateAction #EvidencetoPolicy

🌱 Do you work in #ESG or #CSR and want to incorporate more evidence-based planning and decision-makig into your work? Enroll in our free, virtual #EvaluatingSocialPrograms course to learn how randomized evaluations can be used to inform corporate social impact.

https://bit.ly/3VHBfLa

Last week at #ClimateWeekNYC, we hosted an interactive session at the @MIT Innovation Showcase- presenting new research that is accelerating effective and equitable solutions at the nexus of climate and poverty alongside our MIT colleagues. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

⭐ Calling all civil servants! ⭐ Enroll in J-PAL’s free, online #EvaluatingSocialPrograms course to learn how to use randomized evaluations to strengthen the culture of evidence use in your organization.
https://bit.ly/3VHBfLa

🌍 J-PAL at #UNGA80: Next week, our teams are bringing rigorous evidence to the UN General Assembly high-level meetings in NYC. We'll be in conversation on ✨ Youth employment 🌱 Climate-smart agriculture 🤖 AI innovations 💰 Cash transfers for refugees 🏭 Emissions reduction at scale. See you there!

Essay | A Guaranteed Income Won’t Stop People From Wanting to Work Economists worry that a ‘universal basic income’ would make recipients lazier. Data from programs around the world suggests the opposite is true.

“Not only don’t people work less when they are guaranteed an income, they might actually put in more effort.” –Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo in a new WSJ essay exploring evidence on cash transfers 🔗 https://www.wsj.com/economy/a-guaranteed-income-wont-stop-people-from-wanting-to-work-03c4ab31

YouTube video by J-PAL DEDP MicroMasters | Why Choose the Data, Economics, and Design of Policy MicroMasters Program?

Looking to advance your career in development economics or public policy? The DEDP MicroMasters offers flexible online courses taught by MIT faculty, including our co-founders Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. Enroll now to join this semester: https://bit.ly/4gkbCd7

https://bit.ly/3VLkUFn

Evaluating Social Programs

Join us in J-PAL's free, online #EvaluatingSocialPrograms course and check out our new Evidence to Policy module, highlighting some of the key pathways to scaling effective programs around the world. 🌍 Enroll today: https://bit.ly/3VHBfLa

⏰ Launching today! Interested in building your evaluation toolkit? Enroll in J-PAL’s free, self-paced Evaluating Social Programs online course on @MITxCourses to learn how to measure social impact. 🔗 Link: https://bit.ly/3VHBfLa