Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
Encyclopedia
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is an academic center located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Economics
which is dedicated to evaluating the impact of anti-poverty programs through randomized controlled trials (RCTs) similar to those used in medical research. J-PAL collaborates with governments, NGOs and international development organizations to scale-up programs found to be effective and aims to create a "culture of demanding evidence" to back up policy in the developing world.
, Abhijit Banerjee
and Rachel Glennerster
. J-PAL was established to support field trials measuring interventions against poverty, on topics ranging from agriculture and health to governance and social empowerment. The Lab was renamed in honor of Abdul Latif Jameel when his son, MIT alumnus Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, supported it with three major endowments in 2005. He further endowed its activities in 2009.
A 2010 Business Week story, "The Pragmatic Rebels," termed J-PAL's approach that of "a new breed of skeptical empiricists committed to assiduous testing and tangible results". According to Nicolas Kristof, J-PAL has led a "revolution in evaluation"; its philosophy and methods are part of a larger trend towards "applying behavioral economics to global development".
To date, a network of 55 J-PAL affiliate professors has carried out more than 270 evaluations in 43 countries, and J-PAL has trained 851 people in impact evaluation. These evaluations include everything from an analysis of the effectiveness of eyeglasses in China in improving student test scores to a study on the value of deworming
to improve student attendance and academic performance in Kenya. This work, by Michael Kremer
and Edward Miguel, provided the impetus for the "Deworm the World" initiative, which has since reached over 20 million children. Another J-PAL researcher, Nava Ashraf, recently completed work on innovative channels to ease the load of overburdened health care workers in Zambia, while Rebecca Thornton has carried out evaluations on HIV testing and on menstruation and education in Nepal
.
J-PAL is organized both by these regional offices and by research themes called programs. Programs are led by members of the organization's board of directors, and cover seven areas:
and in Banerjee and Duflo's 2011 book, "Poor Economics," which combines anecdotes from the authors' work with their close analysis of "the way the poor think and make decisions".
Other J-PAL research partners include the Centre for Micro Finance, the Center for International Development's Micro-Development Initiative, the Center of Evaluation for Global Action
, Ideas 42, and the Small Enterprise Finance Center.
J-PAL also works with implementing partners to carry out and scale up projects in the field. Examples of these partners include the governments of India and Kenya and the NGOs Pratham
and Save the Children
. In Bangladesh, Save the Children
and J-PAL evaluated programs to empower adolescent girls. In Kenya, J-PAL and the Ministry of Health evaluated malaria prevention programs. J-PAL and the Government of Bihar, India jointly hosted a conference to present the results of numerous evaluations, including a study of fortified salt distribution. J-PAL and Pratham
have evaluated programs teaching children to read in Mumbai and on educational issues across India.
In addition to Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, core J-PAL donors include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Nike Foundation, Russ Siegelman, and the Doug B. Marshall Jr. Foundation.
2009 Abhijit Banerjee
receives inaugural Infosys Prize
2010 Esther Duflo
and Sendhil Mullainathan
named among Foreign Policy
’s Top 100 Global Thinkers
2010 Esther Duflo
receives John Bates Clark Medal
2010 Erica Field receives Elaine Bennett Research Prize
The MacArthur Foundation awarded grants to Esther Duflo
in 2009, Sendhil Mullainathan
in 2002, and Michael Kremer
in 1997.
Innovations for Poverty Action http://www.poverty-action.org/
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Department of Economics
MIT Department of Economics
The MIT Department of Economics is a department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Undergraduate studies in economics were introduced in the 19th century by institute president Francis Amasa Walker. The department's Ph.D...
which is dedicated to evaluating the impact of anti-poverty programs through randomized controlled trials (RCTs) similar to those used in medical research. J-PAL collaborates with governments, NGOs and international development organizations to scale-up programs found to be effective and aims to create a "culture of demanding evidence" to back up policy in the developing world.
History and Mission
Founded in 2003 as the “Poverty Action Lab,” J-PAL is currently directed by Esther DufloEsther Duflo
Esther Duflo is a French economist, currently the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also co-founder and the Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab...
, Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee is an Indian economist. He is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
and Rachel Glennerster
Rachel Glennerster
Rachel Glennerster is the current Executive Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her current research includes randomized evaluations of community driven development in Sierra Leone, empowerment of adolescent girls in Bangladesh, and...
. J-PAL was established to support field trials measuring interventions against poverty, on topics ranging from agriculture and health to governance and social empowerment. The Lab was renamed in honor of Abdul Latif Jameel when his son, MIT alumnus Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, supported it with three major endowments in 2005. He further endowed its activities in 2009.
A 2010 Business Week story, "The Pragmatic Rebels," termed J-PAL's approach that of "a new breed of skeptical empiricists committed to assiduous testing and tangible results". According to Nicolas Kristof, J-PAL has led a "revolution in evaluation"; its philosophy and methods are part of a larger trend towards "applying behavioral economics to global development".
Activities
Though J-PAL was founded as a research center, its activities have expanded to encompass three areas: rigorous impact evaluations, capacity building, and direct influence on policy.To date, a network of 55 J-PAL affiliate professors has carried out more than 270 evaluations in 43 countries, and J-PAL has trained 851 people in impact evaluation. These evaluations include everything from an analysis of the effectiveness of eyeglasses in China in improving student test scores to a study on the value of deworming
Deworming
Deworming is the giving of an anthelmintic drug to an animal to rid it of intestinal parasites, such as roundworm and tapeworm...
to improve student attendance and academic performance in Kenya. This work, by Michael Kremer
Michael Kremer
Michael Robert Kremer is a development economist and is currently the Gates Professor of Developing Societies at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Presidential Faculty Fellowship, and was named a Young Global...
and Edward Miguel, provided the impetus for the "Deworm the World" initiative, which has since reached over 20 million children. Another J-PAL researcher, Nava Ashraf, recently completed work on innovative channels to ease the load of overburdened health care workers in Zambia, while Rebecca Thornton has carried out evaluations on HIV testing and on menstruation and education in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
.
Structure
J-PAL's headquarters is a center within the Economics Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with regional offices in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and South Asia that are hosted by a local university:- J-PAL Europe (ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), established in 2007 with the Paris School of EconomicsParis School of EconomicsThe Paris School of Economics , created on 21 December 2006 in Paris, France, is a French economics department. The EEP combines researchers from several institutions, including DELTA and INRA... - J-PAL South Asia (ChennaiChennaiChennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
), established in 2007 with the Institute for Financial Management and ResearchInstitute for Financial Management and ResearchThe Institute for Financial Management and Research , Chennai, India, is a business school located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1970. IFMR is recognized as an Institution of National Importance by the Ministry of Finance. IFMR is an approved institution by the University of... - J-PAL Latin America (SantiagoSantiagoSantiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
), established in 2009 with the Pontifícia Universidad Católica - J-PAL Africa (Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
), established in 2011 with the University of Cape TownUniversity of Cape TownThe University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
at SALDRU
J-PAL is organized both by these regional offices and by research themes called programs. Programs are led by members of the organization's board of directors, and cover seven areas:
- Agriculture
- Education
- Energy and Environment
- Finance
- Health
- Labor Markets
- Political Economy & Governance
Partnerships
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a close partner of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). The two organizations share a common mission and take similar methodological approaches to development policy evaluation, though J-PAL works through universities and makes use of academic resources, while IPA, as a nonprofit, operates through country offices. Both organizations have pioneered the use of randomized evaluations to study the effectiveness of development interventions worldwide and have collaborated extensively on field studies involving randomized evaluations. A number of J-PAL Affiliates are also IPA Research Affiliates or IPA Research Network Members. The work of both organizations is featured in the popular press book More Than Good IntentionsMore Than Good Intentions
More Than Good Intentions: How a New Economics is Helping to Solve Global Poverty is a non-fiction book by Yale economist Dean Karlan and field researcher Jacob Appel published in 2011. It combines insights from behavioral economics with field research from developing countries to discuss and...
and in Banerjee and Duflo's 2011 book, "Poor Economics," which combines anecdotes from the authors' work with their close analysis of "the way the poor think and make decisions".
Other J-PAL research partners include the Centre for Micro Finance, the Center for International Development's Micro-Development Initiative, the Center of Evaluation for Global Action
Center of Evaluation for Global Action
The Center of Evaluation for Global Action is a research network at the University of California that advances global health and development through impact evaluation and economic analysis...
, Ideas 42, and the Small Enterprise Finance Center.
J-PAL also works with implementing partners to carry out and scale up projects in the field. Examples of these partners include the governments of India and Kenya and the NGOs Pratham
Pratham
Pratham is a non-governmental organisation that works towards the provision of quality education to the underprivileged children in India. Established in Mumbai in 1994 to provide pre-school education to children in slums, it now has activities in 21 states of India and has supporting chapters in...
and Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
. In Bangladesh, Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
and J-PAL evaluated programs to empower adolescent girls. In Kenya, J-PAL and the Ministry of Health evaluated malaria prevention programs. J-PAL and the Government of Bihar, India jointly hosted a conference to present the results of numerous evaluations, including a study of fortified salt distribution. J-PAL and Pratham
Pratham
Pratham is a non-governmental organisation that works towards the provision of quality education to the underprivileged children in India. Established in Mumbai in 1994 to provide pre-school education to children in slums, it now has activities in 21 states of India and has supporting chapters in...
have evaluated programs teaching children to read in Mumbai and on educational issues across India.
In addition to Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, core J-PAL donors include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Reddington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1967. The Hewlett Foundation awards grants to support educational and cultural institutions and to advance certain social and...
, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Nike Foundation, Russ Siegelman, and the Doug B. Marshall Jr. Foundation.
Awards
2008 J-PAL receives BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Development Cooperation2009 Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee is an Indian economist. He is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
receives inaugural Infosys Prize
Infosys Prize
The Infosys Prize is an annual award that recognizes outstanding contributions by scientists, researchers, engineers and social scientists in India. By recognizing and rewarding extraordinary accomplishments, the Infosys Prize aims to elevate the prestige of pure and applied sciences research in...
2010 Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo is a French economist, currently the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also co-founder and the Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab...
and Sendhil Mullainathan
Sendhil Mullainathan
Sendhil Mullainathan is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He was hired with tenure by Harvard in 2004 after having spent six years at MIT, first as a junior faculty member and then as a full professor. He is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" and conducts research on...
named among Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
’s Top 100 Global Thinkers
2010 Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo is a French economist, currently the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also co-founder and the Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab...
receives John Bates Clark Medal
John Bates Clark Medal
The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge"...
2010 Erica Field receives Elaine Bennett Research Prize
The MacArthur Foundation awarded grants to Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo is a French economist, currently the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also co-founder and the Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab...
in 2009, Sendhil Mullainathan
Sendhil Mullainathan
Sendhil Mullainathan is a Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He was hired with tenure by Harvard in 2004 after having spent six years at MIT, first as a junior faculty member and then as a full professor. He is a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" and conducts research on...
in 2002, and Michael Kremer
Michael Kremer
Michael Robert Kremer is a development economist and is currently the Gates Professor of Developing Societies at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Presidential Faculty Fellowship, and was named a Young Global...
in 1997.
External links
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab http://www.povertyactionlab.org/Innovations for Poverty Action http://www.poverty-action.org/