Paul is also the Co-Chair (with Heidi Williams) of J-PAL’s new Science for Progress Initiative. He is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a junior affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), an affiliate of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and an Affiliate at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA).

His research deals with program implementation in developing countries and with learning. He is also co-founder and president of the nonprofit GiveDirectly. In 2013, Foreign Policy named him one of its leading 100 "Global Thinkers."