J-PAL North America, based at MIT, leads J-PAL’s work in the North America region. J-PAL North America conducts randomized evaluations, builds partnerships for evidence-informed policymaking, and helps partners scale up effective programs.
Our work spans a wide range of sectors including health care, housing, criminal justice, education, and economic mobility. We leverage research by affiliated professors from universities across the continent and a full-time staff of researchers, policy experts, and administrative professionals to generate and disseminate rigorous evidence about which anti-poverty social policies work and why.
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Blog
Blog
Re-affirming the value of rigorous, policy-relevant research
Rigorous research plays an essential role in identifying which policies are achieving their intended goals. As leaders of a non-partisan research center, J-PAL North America believes in the power of data and evaluation to understand whether policies are working—and to course correct when they are...
Update
J-PAL updates
April 2025 North America Newsletter
J-PAL North America's April newsletter features recent work along J-PAL North America’s research lifecycle including newly funded projects and the launch of Economics Pathways, a pipeline program to empower the next generation of economists researching critical policy questions through training, mentorship, and funding.
Blog
Blog
Ideas to Implementation: Engaging the community to evaluate an extended stay detoxification program in Pierce County, Washington
In this blog, Pierce County Human Services (Washington State) share insights into implementing a community engagement strategy within a randomized evaluation—drawing from their experience with the Fentanyl Detox Program.
Blog
Blog
Randomization’s capacity for flexibility: How to build randomization into a competitive, multi-step application process
This post discusses an evaluation design by researchers at J-PAL North America and Pursuit to measure the impact of the Pursuit's sectoral employment program, showing how randomization can be integrated into the application process without compromising enrollment preferences.