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Oct

MIT’s Poverty Action Lab Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary

MIT's J-PAL 10th Anniversary Live Event

MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is celebrating its 10th anniversary. To celebrate, J-PAL is hosting a one-day event in Cambridge on December 7, 2013. This event will also be webcast live starting at 9:30 AM EST.

J-PAL is marking the occasion with a day-long series of short talks, videos, and panel discussions from researchers, policymakers, staff, and partners. We will hear of surprising results discovered, key lessons learned, some incredible adventures from the field, and the hard road to evidence-based policy in development.

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Over the past decade J-PAL has grown from a single office to a global network of researchers whose 400+ projects span 55 countries.

AGRICULTURE > 34 projects in 15 countries
EDUCATION > 106 projects in 29 countries
ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY >17 projects in 12 countries
HEALTH > 103 projects in 31 countries
FINANCE & MICROFINANCE > 154 projects in 35 countries
LABOR MARKETS > 50 projects in 22 countries
POLITICAL ECONOMY & GOVERNANCE > 93 projects in 26 countries

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) was established in 2003 as a research center at the Economics Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since then, it has grown into a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty.

J-PAL’s mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is based on scientific evidence, and research is translated into action. They do this through three main activities:

  • Conducting Rigorous Impact Evaluations: J-PAL researchers conduct randomized evaluations to test and improve the effectiveness of programs and policies aimed at reducing poverty.
  • Policy Outreach: J-PAL’s policy group analyzes and disseminates research results and builds partnerships with policymakers to ensure that policy is driven by evidence, and effective programs are scaled up.
  • Capacity Building: J-PAL equips practitioners with the expertise to carry out their own rigorous evaluations through training courses and joint research projects

Tune in on December 7th, and help celebrate the great work of MIT’s efforts to reduce poverty.