J-PAL

🌾 In France, school gardens are giving students hands-on environmental education rooted in practical skills. 📸 A new photo series from J-PAL Europe captures students exploring climate change, sustainability, and nature through the low-cost curriculum. Students in the program proudly shared notebooks filled with leaf rubbings, plant sketches, and garden observations—see the full photo essay at bit.ly/3NaDm9P.

Social protection programs play an important role in society. Conditional cash transfers invest in children’s health and education and reduce intergenerational poverty, and pensions can prevent the elderly from falling into poverty, among many other examples. But what does the evidence tell us about how to design better programs? Check out the new Handbook of Social Protection edited by J-PAL affiliates @rema_nadeem & @Ben_Olken, featuring 24 chapters summarizing research insights and new directions: bit.ly/4uuTiVi

🚨 New research alert! Here’s the big idea: Will giving students the tools to master foundational math and reading skills serve as a building block for broader learning? Researchers set out to answer this question by examining Zambia’s national adaptation of the Teaching at the Right Level methodology: the “Catch Up” program. The highlights: • Students made meaningful progress in foundational math and reading skills, equivalent to roughly 2-3 additional months of schooling. • In the short term, almost all of the math gains came from the very subskills the program targets, but students didn't do any better on even closely related tasks. • A separate analysis of national exam results tells a different story: by Grade 7, students exposed to Catch Up scored higher on exams testing skills far beyond what the program directly teaches. ➡️ This shows that broader learning gains from foundational instruction may not appear immediately, but can emerge years later. More key lessons for educators and policymakers: bit.ly/4bPuW0V

Women’s Month Series: Stories of gender evidence in action In Bangladesh 🇧🇩, financial incentives to delay girls’ marriage reduced child marriage by 17% and increased girls’ schooling. Now integrated into @BRAC programming, the program has reached nearly 5,000 girls. 🔗 Read the story in our #IWD2026 blog: bit.ly/4b82h5Q Research by Nina Buchmann, Erica Field (@DevLabDuke1), @rglenner, Shahana Nazneen, and Xiao Yu Wang

AI is everywhere. But how can we know whether it's changing people's lives for the better? We’re hiring an AI Policy Lead to help evaluate and scale promising AI applications for social good. Working with researchers, governments, and tech partners, the AI Lead will help ensure that evidence on AI reaches decision-makers to inform real-world policy. 📍 Cambridge, MA Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis. Learn more and please share: bit.ly/4rM1Ogw

🚨 We’re hiring an AI Policy Lead to help shape J-PAL’s growing work on AI for social good. Based in Cambridge, MA, this hybrid position will work at the intersection of cutting-edge technology, rigorous research, and real-world policymaking. You’ll help evaluate and scale promising AI tools, build partnerships with governments and tech companies, and ensure AI adoption is grounded in credible evidence. Applications are rolling. Learn more and apply (and please share): bit.ly/4rM1Ogw

How do social protection programs fight poverty and protect people from shocks? How can governments and nonprofits design effective social protection programs in low- and middle-income countries? The Handbook of Social Protection, published by MIT Press and edited by J-PAL affiliates @rema_nadeem and @Ben_Olken, tackles this question. From cash transfers to health insurance, the handbook examines real-world programs and the evidence behind them. Check out the open access handbook: bit.ly/4uuTiVi

🌱 How can we design credit programs to help farmers' boost their profits? Our newest Policy Insight synthesizes 23 randomized evaluations to draw out key lessons on helping farmers facing financial barriers. 💡 We find that integrating credits or grants into input bundle programs that provide additional services, like information or insurance, can boost farmers’ productivity and profits by addressing multiple barriers at once. ➡️ Read the Policy Insight: bit.ly/4siR2hK

How can a pollution breakthrough reach new countries? The Emissions Market Accelerator led by @EPIC_India and @JPAL_SA is helping governments adopt a flexible regulation solution that can cut pollution by 20-30 percent. Watch K-CAI co-chair Michael Greenstone walk through the science and the new initiative below. 💡 Full video: bit.ly/46FBOLv

Access alone isn’t enough,policies must also address the social norms shaping women’s choices & control over resources. In this @htTweets article, Sharanya Chandran & @aksharagopalan explore what it takes to turn women-led development into lasting change. bit.ly/3Nswbd8

🎓 Having trouble choosing between PhD programs? On the J-PAL blog, PhD graduates shared their insights on how to navigate the process with confidence: bit.ly/4dyRvFc

This #InternationalWomensDay, we're sharing eight stories of evidence-informed change for women and girls—from classrooms in India 🇮🇳 to care policies in Brazil 🇧🇷 to health campaigns across Africa 🌍: bit.ly/4b82h5Q. Follow along all month for more stories of research reshaping policy for women and girls. #IWD2026

This week, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo joined Data, Economics, and Design of Policy master’s students for a fireside chat moderated by the students themselves. Abhijit and Esther shared reflections on development, research, and life, offering valuable advice as students prepare to apply their skills in the real world. Learn more about the program: bit.ly/4j4ybE4

🇻🇳 Can incentives like contracts or contests help households in Hanoi save energy during summer peaks? Researchers Teevrat Garg, Jorge Lemus, Guillermo Marshall, and Chi Ta received a grant from J-PAL’s King Climate Action Initiative via @KingPhilanthrop to investigate this question. The results? Both contracts and contests led to energy savings, and contests were 80-85% less expensive. Read the summary: bit.ly/3ZTrPyz

Welcome to ADEPT and @MITxCourses, Bordeaux School of Economics 🎉 Convened by @CommunityJameel, ADEPT is building a global network of evidence champions. Starting this spring, BxSE will recognize the DEDP MicroMasters for advanced standing in its Master’s in Development Economics (EADD), granting 30 ECTS and waiving the first semester of the two-year program. Applications are open until March 16. 👉 Learn more: bit.ly/4rBDxKr

🧵 Upcoming event! Impact by Design: Launching a Research Partnership for Accessible Climate Action in Orlando | Tuesday, March 3 from 2-3 pm ET mit.zoom.us/meeting/regist…

The Graduation approach began as small pilots. Today, it has reached 6.7 million households across multiple countries, with impacts that last for years after. A decade after the pivotal study that showed Graduation's potential, the Partnership for Economic Inclusion has released a new survey on the global landscape of Graduation programs - explore the findings (PDF): bit.ly/3OmRzRn @BRACworld

Wrapping up our participation at the India AI Impact Summit: 📔 @JPAL launches the AI Evidence Playbook with @Googleorg, @IDRC_CRDI, @FCDOResearch and us 🟠 @AnthropicAI supports @Pratham_India, including Teaching at the Right Level (evaluated and scaled with J-PAL) and more!

Our Global Executive Director @iqbaldhali spoke to @NBCNews about the AI Summit in India last week: “The majority of the world’s population lives in the Global South. Hosting the Summit here has allowed the conversation to center the issues and use cases that will affect these billions of people.” 🔗 Read the whole story: nbcnews.to/46oGbuj

.@iqbaldhali spoke to @htTweets to discuss AI's potential to boost social welfare and the questions every decision-maker should be asking before embracing AI innovations. Read: lnkd.in/gK_ndybe #RoadToImpact 📸 From our event at the #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026 yesterday