19 June 2024

CEMFI has participated in “Inclusion Policy Lab: Scientific Evidence at the Service of People,” an event hosted by the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration to disseminate the results of a pioneering partnership to promote evidence generation and use in social policymaking in Spain.

The Inclusion Policy Lab was launched by the Ministry in 2021 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic to rigorously evaluate a series of pilot social inclusion programs aimed at bolstering the effect of Spain’s national minimum income scheme on poverty alleviation. Run in partnership with CEMFI and J-PAL Europe, the Lab brings together a group of leading researchers, policymakers, and third-sector institutions. Thus far, the Lab has overseen 32 randomised evaluations of such programs. The evaluations have looked at issues such as the impact of in-person and online tutoring, the importance of personalised, intensive support for jobseekers, and measures to increase the take-up of social benefits.

CEMFI Professors Samuel Bentolila and Monica Martinez-Bravo (on leave) have coordinated a group of 18 international researchers that supported the Ministry and implementing partners in programme design, implementation, and evaluation. The European office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab staff provided technical support to the Ministry at every stage of the process.

At the event, J-PAL co-founder and Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee gave a talk on social inclusion policies and members of the CEMFI researcher team Antonio Cabrales (U. Carlos III), María Hernández de Benito (U. de Alicante), Laura Hospido (Banco de España), and J-PAL Research Manager Ana García-Hernández presented the results of several projects.

Previous Next