MineduLab, the Innovation Laboratory for a Cost-Effective Educational Policy in Peru

Abstract

This chapter describes the creation of MineduLab, the first government innovation unit in Latin America and the Caribbean that used Randomized Controlled Trials as its main strategy for policy innovation. We argue that in a context of weak institutional setting, the use of behavioral science and administrative data enabled a low-cost approach to innovation that was instrumental for the creation, impact, and sustainability of the Lab. Using this approach, the Lab was able to produce timely and relevant results at very low cost, which in turn allowed securing the support of high-level officials within the ministry. We conclude that although a low-cost approach was functional for the institutionalization of the lab, this model also imposed restrictions to the Lab capacity to innovate.