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68-540: In 2019, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was jointly awarded to J-PAL co-founders Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee , alongside economist Michael Kremer , "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty". The Nobel committee highlighted Duflo and Banerjee's work building J-PAL in their report on the scientific background for the award, noting that the organization

136-508: A Master's degree at MIT . It focuses on topics in economics , statistics , and mathematics , and also includes practical content of the design and implementation of randomized evaluations. Instructors in the program include Esther Duflo , Abhijit Banerjee , Rachel Glennerster , Jonathan Gruber , and David Autor . J-PAL also conducts tailored trainings with policymakers in governments, non-governmental organizations , charitable foundations, and multilateral development banks. For example,

204-477: A beachhead of honesty and rigor about evidence, evaluation and complexity in an aid world that would prefer to stick to glossy brochures and celebrity photo-ops. For this they deserve to be congratulated—and to be read." Throughout its history, J-PAL has been a vocal advocate of research transparency, supporting efforts to improve the quality of evidence from randomized controlled trials and ensure results are reproducible . For example, in 2012, J-PAL partnered with

272-583: A leading research institute in development economics . Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times has written that J-PAL is leading a "revolution in evaluation", and Bill Gates has noted that the organization's work is "tremendously important" towards the goal of making international aid more effective over time. In 2010, Foreign Policy ranked J-PAL co-founders Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan among their "Top 100 Global Thinkers", writing of Duflo that "[h]er pathbreaking research aims to put hard numbers behind such [i.e. aid allocation] decisions, identifying

340-658: A particular "initiative" with its own funding stream. Several examples are discussed in detail below. One of J-PAL's primary research initiatives is the Agricultural Technology Adaption Initiative (ATAI), co-led with the Center for Effective Global Action at the University of California, Berkeley . ATAI supports randomized controlled trials evaluating interventions aimed at reducing poverty by increasing agricultural productivity. In

408-546: A set of norms and research standards for randomized controlled trials , encouraging the pre-registration of hypotheses using services such as the American Economic Association RCT Registry, back-checks and other efforts to ensure the reliability of survey data, and the timely release of anonymized data after research is published. J-PAL identifies and targets a number of primary research areas and topics in its work, organizing each under

476-484: A similar goal. J-PAL's success has also inspired successful impact evaluations at multilateral development agencies such as the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank , in addition to within national governments such as that of Indonesia. In line with qualitative accounts of J-PAL's influence in popularizing experimental research methods, a paper by Janet Currie and co-authors in the papers and proceedings of

544-669: A similar manner as and announced alongside the Nobel Prize recipients, and receive the Prize in Economic Sciences at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony. That the prize is not an original Nobel Prize has been a subject of controversy, with four of Nobel's relatives having formally distanced themselves from the Prize in Economic Sciences. The award was established in 1968 by an endowment "in perpetuity" from Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank , to commemorate

612-633: A total of 8,500 participants. J-PAL is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and affiliated with the economics department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . It is currently co-directed by Esther Duflo , Abhijit Banerjee , and Benjamin Olken , all of whom are economics professors at MIT . J-PAL's global office is supplemented by seven regional offices that support the organization's work across their respective regions of

680-430: A transformative impact on recipient's lives. The research has prompted a relative decrease in the popularity of microfinance versus cash transfers and other social interventions shown in rigorous impact evaluations to have strong positive effects. Between 2018 and 2020, J-PAL supported a large-scale randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of relieving medical debt on mental and financial health. The study

748-709: Is an economics award funded by Sveriges Riksbank and administered by the Nobel Foundation . Although not one of the five Nobel Prizes established by Alfred Nobel's will in 1895, it is commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics , and is administered and referred to along with the Nobel Prizes by the Nobel Foundation. Winners of the Prize in Economic Sciences are chosen in

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816-568: Is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." The prize explicitly noted Duflo's work building J-PAL, observing that "she has played a major role in setting a new agenda for the field of Development Economics" through her "research, mentoring of young scholars, and role in helping to direct the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT." In 2019, J-PAL co-founders Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee were selected as

884-511: The Financial Times , both the former Swedish minister for finance , Kjell-Olof Feldt , and the former Swedish minister for commerce, Gunnar Myrdal , wanted the prize abolished, with "Myrdal rather less graciously want[ing] the prize abolished because it had been given to such reactionaries as Hayek (and afterwards Milton Friedman )." Relatedly, it has been noted that several members of the awarding committee have been affiliated with

952-582: The American Economic Association observed that the share of NBER working papers leveraging randomized controlled trials increased from less than 5% to almost 15% between 1980 and 2018. Although J-PAL was founded as a research center, its activities encompass three primary areas: field research, policy outreach, and capacity building. Its activities are supervised by a staff of over 400 spread across its global headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts and seven regional offices around

1020-451: The American Economic Association to create a registration service for randomized controlled trials , allowing researchers to pre-register what analysis they hope to conduct before data is collected. This helps to reduce p-hacking , ensuring researchers do not iteratively test many versions of their hypotheses, selecting only those that yield the most desirable results. J-PAL affiliates Rachel Glennerster and Edward Miguel published one of

1088-913: The Institute for Financial Management and Research in Chennai , Tamil Nadu . N. R. Narayana Murthy , co-founder of Infosys , was the keynote speaker at the launch event. In line with J-PAL's initial focus on South Asia, Many of Duflo and Banerjee's first successful randomized impact evaluations were situated in India . For example, among Duflo's earliest papers is an evaluation of a program in which one third of Village Council head positions in India are randomly reserved for women. The paper finds that councils led by women invest more in roads and drinking water, public goods that they find women are relatively more likely to complain about in formal requests to Gram panchayats . To support work of affiliates in other regions of

1156-605: The Mont Pelerin Society . Milton Friedman was awarded the 1976 prize in part for his work on monetarism . Awarding the prize to Friedman caused international protests. Friedman was accused of supporting the military dictatorship in Chile because of the relation of economists of the University of Chicago to Pinochet , and a controversial six-day trip he took to Chile during March 1975 (less than two years after

1224-549: The committee 's bias towards mainstream economics , though heterodox economists like Friedrich Hayek ( Austrian School ) and Ronald Coase (associated with new institutional economics ) have won. In his speech at the 1974 Nobel Prize banquet, Friedrich Hayek stated that had he been consulted on the establishment of a Nobel Prize in economics, he would have "decidedly advised against it", primarily because "The Nobel Prize confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess. This does not matter in

1292-414: The natural sciences . Here the influence exercised by an individual is chiefly an influence on his fellow experts; and they will soon cut him down to size if he exceeds his competence. But the influence of the economist that mainly matters is an influence over laymen: politicians, journalists, civil servants and the public generally." Nevertheless, Hayek accepted the award. According to Samuel Brittan of

1360-454: The "Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)". Subsequently, J-PAL has also received financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , Open Philanthropy , Good Ventures , and USAID 's Development Innovation Ventures. In 2004, Rachel Glennerster , a British economist and the wife of 2019 Nobel Prize co-laureate Michael Kremer , became executive director of J-PAL. She held

1428-630: The "approach has been tremendously influential in reshaping the field of development economics." Source: Source: Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences , officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( Swedish : Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne ),

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1496-488: The Nobel family has ever had the intention of establishing a prize in economics. He explained that "Nobel despised people who cared more about profits than society's well-being", saying that "There is nothing to indicate that he would have wanted such a prize", and that the association with the Nobel prizes is "a PR coup by economists to improve their reputation". Critics cite the apparent snub of Joan Robinson as evidence of

1564-568: The Nobel laureates in physics , chemistry , physiology or medicine , and literature , each laureate in Economics receives a diploma, gold medal, and monetary grant award document from the King of Sweden at the annual Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm , on the anniversary of Nobel's death (December 10). The first prize in economics was awarded in 1969 to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen "for having developed and applied dynamic models for

1632-526: The Prize in Economics for the coming year. Members of the Academy and former laureates are also authorised to nominate candidates." All proposals and their supporting evidence must be received before February 1. The proposals are reviewed by the Prize Committee and specially appointed experts. Before the end of September, the committee chooses potential laureates. If there is a tie, the chairman of

1700-727: The Right Level approach has been encouraged by organizations such as UNICEF as an effective method for bridging achievement gaps between high and low performing students. J-PAL has also supported research evaluating the usefulness of technological assistance in aiding student-tailored instruction. For example, a paper by J-PAL affiliates Karthik Muralidharan , Alejandro Ganiman, and Abhijeet Singh evaluates an after-school program in India in which students spend time on Mindspark, an Edtech platform that algorithmically suggests remedial exercises based on performance on exam questions. The research finds that even short periods of time enrolled in

1768-470: The Right Level" programs have subsequently been scaled in a number of countries around the world, such as India , Zambia , Kenya , and Nigeria . The scale-up of the scheme has been supported by Teaching at the Right Level Africa, a non-profit organization that as of 2022 had directly or indirectly supported programs impacting over 4 million children across Sub-Saharan Africa . The Teaching at

1836-934: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences "administers a researcher exchange with academies in other countries and publishes six scientific journals. Every year the Academy awards the Nobel Prizes in Physics and in Chemistry, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, the Crafoord Prize and a number of other large prizes". Each September the Academy's Economics Prize Committee, which consists of five elected members, "sends invitations to thousands of scientists, members of academies and university professors in numerous countries, asking them to nominate candidates for

1904-403: The acceptance of results from such trials in the economic-policy community." The scientific background for the award also cited the work of Innovations for Poverty Action and the Center for Effective Global Action , J-PAL partners, in furthering the movement towards evidence-based development policy. Duflo was the second female and youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize , winning at

1972-494: The age of 46. Lawrence F. Katz , a professor of economics at Harvard University , observed after Duflo, Banerjee, and Kremer's Nobel was "probably the first 21st-century prize in economics...This is not stuff worked on 20, 30 years ago — this is stuff that, none of it started until the 2000s." Benjamin Olken , a colleague of Duflo and Banerjee's at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , noted of Duflo, Banerjee, and Kremer's work popularizing randomized controlled trials that

2040-406: The analysis of economic processes". Three women have received the prize: Elinor Ostrom , who won in 2009, Esther Duflo , who won in 2019, and Claudia Goldin , who won in 2023. Goldin was the first woman to win the award solo. In February 1995, following acrimony within the selection committee pertaining to the awarding of the 1994 Prize in Economics to John Forbes Nash , the Prize in Economics

2108-494: The award and funds the monetary component of the award. In 2022, the monetary portion of the Prize in Economic Sciences was 10 million Swedish kronor , the same amount as the original Nobel Prizes. Since 2006, Sveriges Riksbank has given the Nobel Foundation an annual grant of 6.5 million Swedish kronor (in January 2008, approx. US$ 1 million; € 0.7 million) for its administrative expenses associated with

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2176-412: The award as well as 1 million Swedish kronor (until the end of 2008) to include information about the award on the Nobel Foundation's web site. The Prize in Economic Sciences is not one of the Nobel Prizes endowed by Alfred Nobel in his will. However, the nomination process, selection criteria, and awards presentation of the Prize in Economic Sciences are performed in a manner similar to that of

2244-527: The bank's 300th anniversary. Laureates in the Prize in Economic Sciences are selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences . It was first awarded in 1969 to Dutch economist Jan Tinbergen and Norwegian economist Ragnar Frisch "for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes". An endowment "in perpetuity" from Sveriges Riksbank pays the Nobel Foundation's administrative expenses associated with

2312-407: The city of Hyderabad . With funding and support from J-PAL, the researchers tracked participating women for three years, finding no effects of the program on measures of educational attainment, health, or female empowerment. Several follow on studies conducted by J-PAL affiliates in different geographic contexts have yielded similar results, providing limited systematic evidence that microfinance has

2380-454: The co-recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences alongside Michael Kremer , then of Harvard University . The award was granted for Duflo, Banerjee, and Kremer's "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty." The Nobel committee highlighted J-PAL explicitly in the scientific background for the award, observing that the organization "has promoted research built on randomized controlled trials in many countries and promoted

2448-496: The committee casts the deciding vote. Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences vote in mid-October to determine the next laureate or laureates of the Prize in Economics. As with the Nobel Prizes, no more than three people can share the prize for a given year; they must still be living at the time of the Prize announcement in October; and information about Prize nominations cannot be disclosed publicly for 50 years. Like

2516-600: The coup that ended with the suicide of its democratically elected President Salvador Allende ). Friedman himself answered that he never was an adviser to the dictatorship, but only gave some lectures and seminars on inflation and met with officials, including Augusto Pinochet , in Chile. Four Nobel Prize laureates – George Wald , Linus Pauling , David Baltimore and Salvador Luria  – wrote letters in October 1976 to The New York Times protesting Friedman's award. The 2005 prize to Robert Aumann

2584-496: The earliest and highest profile studies to use a "pre-analysis plan", showing that pre-registration effectively prevented them from drawing erroneous conclusions. In 2019, Duflo and Banerjee were selected as the co-recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences , alongside Michael Kremer , then of Harvard University . In their report on the scientific background for the award, the Nobel committee explicitly acknowledged Duflo and Banerjee's work building J-PAL, noting that

2652-483: The extreme poor access to loans without collateral or credit histories. Microfinance rose to prominence in the 1990s, culminating in a Nobel Peace Prize for Bangaldeshi NGO Grameen Bank and its founder, Muhammad Yunus , in 2006. Beginning in 2005, Banerjee, Duflo, Rachel Glennerster , and Cynthia Kinnan partnered with the Indian NGO Spandana to deliver loans of approximately $ 250 to poor women in

2720-538: The last ten years, the initiative has conducted over 50 evaluations across 17 countries. In line with its efforts to improve agricultural productivity, ATAI has funded randomized controlled trials evaluating the use of text messages to deliver tailored agricultural extension services to small-scale farmers in Kenya and the Indian state of Gujarat . The evaluations found that mobile extension services substantially increase

2788-410: The leadership of Heidi Williams and Paul Niehaus, of Dartmouth College and the University of California, San Diego , respectively. The initiative funds and helps design randomized impact evaluations aimed at finding policies that catalyze the rate of scientific progress. The initiative is supported by a $ 650,000 grant from Open Philanthropy , a charitable organization that distributes grants based on

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2856-612: The likelihood that farmers adopt recommended agricultural strategies, raising yields in a cost effective manner. In response, Michael Kremer and others founded Precision Agriculture for Development, an NGO that delivers tailored agricultural advice to small-scale farmers in the developing world. In 2020, J-PAL launched the King Climate Action Initiative, a research program aimed at testing policies in relation to climate change mitigation and adaption, pollution reduction, and access to energy . The initiative

2924-625: The most cost-effective ways to fight endemic problems such as poverty and malnutrition." In 2011, Duflo and Banerjee's bestselling book Poor Economics was awarded the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award . In 2010, Esther Duflo was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal , a prize granted annually by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who

2992-408: The organization "has promoted research built on randomized controlled trials in many countries and promoted the acceptance of results from such trials in the economic-policy community." J-PAL's success has inspired the widespread acceptance of randomized controlled trials in development economics , and has encouraged their use in organizations and by academics outside their network. At approximately

3060-673: The organization has conducted tailored in-person trainings with organizations and agencies such as UNICEF , the European Commission , and the Indian Administrative Service . In 2024, it announced a partnership with the government of Côte d'Ivoire and the French Development Agency to equip civil servants with training in impact evaluation and the use of evidence in policy. Between 2003 and 2020, J-PAL's training initiatives reached

3128-468: The original Nobel Prizes. Laureates are announced with the Nobel Prize laureates, and receive the award at the same ceremony. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the prize "in accordance with the rules governing the award of the Nobel Prizes instituted through his [Alfred Nobel's] will", which stipulate that the prize be awarded annually to "those who ... shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind". According to its official website,

3196-411: The prevalence of depression, likely because the relief elicited shame or reminded respondents of other unclaimed debts. The results of the study contradicted the expectations of experts polled prior to the release of its results, in addition to previously collected survey responses that indicated medical debt had detrimental effects for their mental health. Since its founding, J-PAL has been recognized as

3264-492: The principles of effective altruism . J-PAL also promotes the use of scientific evidence in public policy by running trainings and distributing materials aimed at improving the capacity of researchers and governments to conduct evaluations and use them to make decisions. One example is a MicroMasters program offered in conjunction by J-PAL and MIT in "Data, Economics and Design of Policy". The MicroMasters program has over 1,000 alumni, and qualifies its recipients to apply for

3332-510: The prize for work in the field of behavioral economics . Some critics argue that the prestige of the Prize in Economic Sciences derives in part from its association with the Nobel Prizes, an association that has often been a source of controversy. Among them is the Swedish human rights lawyer Peter Nobel , a great-grandnephew of Alfred Nobel . Nobel accuses the awarding institution of misusing his family's name, and states that no member of

3400-462: The program have large positive effects on math and Hindi test scores. A review of similar randomized controlled trials by J-PAL affiliates Philip Oreopoulos and Andre Nickow finds that software-aided instruction almost always yields better results than teaching conducted through conventional means. One of J-PAL's most influential lines of research was its experimental evaluations of microfinance programs aimed at alleviating poverty by providing

3468-425: The research center was approved by MIT economics department chair Bengt Holmström in an effort to convince Duflo and her colleagues to stay in the department despite outside opportunities. The research center was early on championed by MIT president Susan Hockfield , who promoted it to MIT 's pool of donors. In 2005, it was endowed by Mohammed Jameel of Saudi Arabia's Abdul Latif Jameel Corporation, and renamed

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3536-588: The role until 2017, when she became chief economist of the United Kingdom's Department for International Development . In 2018, Iqbal Dhaliwal, a former Indian Administrative Service officer and the husband of former IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath , became J-PAL's new global executive director. Dhaliwal sits on J-PAL's executive committee, which also includes Duflo, Banerjee, Amy Finkelstein , Rema Hanna , Kelsey Jack, Benjamin Olken , and Tavneet Suri . J-PAL opened its first regional office in 2007 at

3604-421: The rules governing the committee during 1994: The prize's scope was redefined as one of social sciences, and Prize Committee members were limited to serve for three years. The award's official Swedish name is Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne . The Nobel Foundation's translations of the Swedish name into English have varied since 1969: Financial Times Business Book of

3672-413: The same time as J-PAL was created, Dean Karlan founded Innovations for Poverty Action , an NGO and longstanding partner of J-PAL that also promotes the use of rigorous impact evaluation in development economics . In 2008, Edward Miguel , a development economist and co-author of 2019 Nobel Prize co-laureate Michael Kremer , founded the Center for Effective Global Action at UC Berkeley to pursue

3740-492: The same year. The Economist praised the book for exemplifying "a more evidence-based approach to development economics", and recommended it as one of the five best texts to read to understand the escape from extreme poverty. William Easterly , a professor of economics at NYU and longstanding critic of foreign aid, wrote in the Wall Street Journal of the book that "[Duflo and Banerjee] have fought to establish

3808-443: The secretary and four of the five members are professors of economics. In 1978, Herbert A. Simon , whose PhD was in political science , became the first non-economist to win the prize, for his work in the fields of economics and organizational decision making. Elinor Ostrom , also a political scientist, won the prize in 2009. Similarly, Daniel Kahneman , a professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University , won

3876-663: The training scheme increased adoption from 4 to 94 percent, raising yields and revenue. J-PAL also co-leads a Social Protection Initiative in collaboration with the Center for International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government . The initiative is co-led by Rema Hanna and Benjamin Olken , and supports randomized controlled trials examining social protection schemes in low and middle income countries . In November 2022, J-PAL launched an additional division, its Science for Progress Initiative, under

3944-787: The vision and strategy for the organization and includes the Global Directors and executive director, Regional Scientific Directors and executive directors, and Chairs of the Sector Programs. In 2019, J-PAL co-founders Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, and long time research affiliate Michael Kremer were awarded the Nobel prize in economics "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty." J-PAL affiliates have published several randomized controlled trials that have received substantial media coverage or had outsized policy influence. Listed below are several prominent examples. Among J-PAL's earliest successful experiments

4012-573: The world, J-PAL subsequently opened additional hubs in South Africa , Chile , Indonesia , Egypt , France , and the United States , each affiliated with a local university. In 2011, Duflo and Banerjee promoted the work of J-PAL in their best-selling book Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty , which won the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award

4080-422: The world. J-PAL's primary purpose is to ensure that policies aimed at reducing poverty are informed by rigorous scientific evidence. As part of this mission, it supports randomized controlled trials by distributing grants, hiring and managing survey enumerators, and disseminating information on sampling , randomization , and other stages of the research process. In line with these efforts, J-PAL has established

4148-531: The world. Each regional office is affiliated with a local university: J-PAL is organized both by these regional offices and by research themes called sector programs. Programs are led by members of the organization's board of directors, and cover eight areas: J-PAL is currently led by Professors Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Ben Olken as Faculty Directors and Iqbal Dhaliwal as the Global Executive Director. J-PAL's Board of Directors sets

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4216-454: Was "vital" in promoting the acceptance of randomized controlled trials as an empirical technique in development economics . Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times has described J-PAL as leading a "revolution in evaluation". J-PAL was founded in 2003 as the "Poverty Action Lab" by Abhijit Banerjee , Esther Duflo , and Sendhil Mullainathan , all of the economics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Initial funding for

4284-536: Was conducted by Neale Mahoney , Raymond Kluender, Francis Wong, and Wesley Yin in partnership with RIP Medical Debt , a nonprofit organization . Between 2018 and 2020, the organization randomly allocated $ 169 million in debt relief across 83,400 people, allowing the researchers to evaluate the causal effects of the program. The study found that medical debt relief had surprisingly muted effects on financial and mental health, with only marginal improvements in credit scores. The experiment also found that debt relief increased

4352-462: Was criticized by the European press for his alleged use of game theory to justify his stance against the dismantling of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine . Paul Krugman 's left-wing commentary has attracted both widespread praise and criticism. The 1994 prize to mathematician John Forbes Nash caused controversy within the selection committee. This resulted in a change to

4420-423: Was its evaluation of "Teaching at the Right Level", a remedial education scheme developed by Indian NGO Pratham aimed at bridging learning gaps in developing countries by evaluating students based on ability, and teaching them in groups based on these skills rather than grade level or other characteristics. Pratham 's approach was developed in the early 2000s, and the first "proof of concept" trial of its efficacy

4488-403: Was published by Abhijit Banerjee , Esther Duflo , and co-authors in 2007. The trial found that the program substantially increased standardized test scores in mathematics and language skills. A second evaluation of the program was published in 2010, revealing similar results, albeit with substantial implementation issues such as low take-up of the scheme and attrition by volunteers. "Teaching at

4556-478: Was redefined as a prize in social sciences. This made it available to researchers in such topics as political science, psychology, and sociology. Moreover, the composition of the Economics Prize Committee changed to include two non-economists. This has not been confirmed by the Economics Prize Committee. The members of the 2007 Economics Prize Committee are still dominated by economists, as

4624-549: Was supported by a $ 25 million founding grant from King Philanthropies. As of April 2024, the initiative had supported 30 randomized evaluations and informed the implementation of policies impacting 15 million people. In one example randomized controlled trial , J-PAL affiliaties Jenny Aker and Kelsey Jack evaluate a training program teaching farmers in Niger to harvest rainwater by digging demilunes (or semicircular bunds ), combatting desertification of agricultural lands. They find that

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