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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

This is an image of a photo collage, with two photos side by side. In the left photo, a girl stands in purple shirt and white head scarf, smiling and looking away from the camera. In the right photo, a boy stands outside in snow wearing jeans and a red sweatshirt, looking at the camera and smiling.

Yhdessä (Together): Creating documentary photography on inclusion and friendship in Finnish schools

We embarked on a documentary photography project to capture the people and activities behind a Finnish primary school intervention aimed at fostering social inclusion in schools. Our aim was to showcase the crucial role of visual storytelling in human-centered research and policymaking.
A man rides a bicycle with a red food delivery backpack.

JOI Brazil: Helping shape the Brazilian labor policy landscape

2024 marks the third anniversary of the Jobs and Opportunities Initiative Brazil (JOI Brazil). In this blog, we share what JOI Brazil has accomplished so far—and what we hope to accomplish in the coming years.
A street in Carlsbad, California, with a large sign reading "Carlsbad", cars waiting at a traffic light and a Victoria-style building in the background

Evolving towards a data-driven culture: The City of Carlsbad’s reflections from LEVER’s Training Sprint

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Rachel Maltz—Senior Program Manager of the City of Carlsbad California’s Innovation and Economic Development Department—shares her experience participating in LEVER's 2023 Training Sprint and how the program has helped evolve the city's approach to evidence and data usage in policymaking.
A Black Principal Investigator sitting at a table speaking with a Black older man

Bridging gaps in health care: The impact of investigator diversity on clinical trials

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J-PAL affiliated researcher Marcella Alsan and coauthors Romaine Campbell, Lukas Leister, and Ayotomiwa Ojo share insights from their research on how investigator racial diversity affects clinical trial participation by Black respondents.
A woodchipper with 'Fire District 3' written on it working on by a road.

Building research partnerships to address wildfire risk in Jackson County, Oregon

Deputy Director of the Western Fire Chiefs Association Chief Bob Horton and researchers Judson Boomhower (UC San Diego) and Patrick Baylis (University of British Columbia) discuss their research partnership to evaluate a program encouraging households to take up wildfire prevention practices.
A headshot of a man

African Scholar Spotlight: Toyin Samuel Olowogbon

This post is part of our ongoing series showcasing the work and perspectives of economists from the African continent who are leading randomized evaluations. This post features Toyin Samuel Olowogbon, an agricultural economist at the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Empowerment and a postdoctoral...
Man in field with crops

Celebrating the DAISI Regional Scholars Program—Two-years strong

By
  • Abel Mkulama
The Regional Scholars Program has taken center stage at the Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI) nearly two years after its launch. The DAISI Regional Scholars Program is integral to DAISI and promotes research opportunities for scholars based in sub-Saharan Africa and...
A man works at a laptop under a tin roof

Grant Bridgman, J-PAL '14, on breaking down language barriers in Africa and Asia

The Alumni Spotlight series highlights J-PAL alumni who are making an impact across industries and around the world. Formerly a research analyst at J-PAL Africa, Grant Bridgman '14 now leads Uliza, a translation start-up that aims to improve access to information across hundreds of languages. He...