State and local governments invited to apply for funding, support on pressing policy challenges
J-PAL North America, a research center at MIT, has announced that it is now accepting letters of interest from U.S. state and local governments through the J-PAL State and Local Innovation Initiative. This initiative supports state and local governments in using randomized evaluations to answer their priority policy questions. State and local governments are increasingly looking for rigorous evidence about which social programs are most effective and cost effective. The governments selected to participate in this initiative will receive flexible pilot funding of up to $100,000, pro bono technical support from J-PAL North America staff, and connections with experienced researchers from J-PAL’s network. State and local governments that have partnered with a researcher to design a high-quality randomized evaluation can later apply for additional funding, typically in the range of $250,000 to 500,000, to carry out the evaluations. “State and local governments can serve as laboratories of innovation and test out new...