Research Associate–Mechanizing Agriculture at Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

About the Organisation

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) J-PAL was established in 2003 as a research center at the Economics Department at MIT. Since then, it has grown into a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL is propelled by a first-rate team dedicated to research, policy, training, and other vital work, supporting J-PAL’s mission to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.

J-PAL South Asia, which is based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in India, analyses and disseminates research results and builds partnerships with policymakers to ensure that policy is driven by evidence, and that programs proven effective are scaled up. We have a growing number of partnerships in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Project Description:

In this paper, we employ a randomized control trial and a structural model to study how the adoption of agricultural mechanization affects aggregate labor demand, the demand for different types of labor (e.g. hired vs. family workers), and productivity in the farm, as well as labor supply decisions among families that run these farms.

Roles and Responsibilities:

The RA will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:

• Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercises, refining study design and surveying instruments.
• Managing teams: Recruit, train, and supervise both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators and other field and office staff.
• Overseeing implementation of field activities in accordance to the research design
• Reporting to PIs on all of the above mentioned activities.
• Maintain compliance with all J-PAL protocols and policies.

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s/ Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, mathematics/statistics, public policy, or related fields
• Research Experience-0-2 years
• Experience in developing country
• Excellent management/ organizational skills and able to solve unexpected problems
• Strong quantitative skills
• Working knowledge of Stata, Matlab (strongly preferred)
• Familiarity with RCTs
• Demonstrated experience managing a team
• Flexible, self-motivating, independent and manages multiple tasks efficiently
• Ability to deal with unstructured and changing environments
• Attention to detail

How to Apply?

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