You can now apply for an Exploratory Research Grant under a new CEPR – DFID research initiative on private enterprise development in low-income countries.
Over the next five years, Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) will pursue a research agenda that aims to better understand what determines the strength of market forces driving efficiency in Low-Income Countries (LICs). Existing research suggests that the private sector in LICs faces a number of constraints that act upon each other. What is needed is research that allows us to understand how these constraints interact.
PEDL will support approaches that promise to produce credible research results that will be useful for policy-making. It will promote research related to private enterprises of all sizes and will initially focus on four research themes:
• Modelling market frictions in LICs using newly available data
• Understanding how constraints interact using micro-founded macro models
• The dynamics of SMEs: Informality and entrepreneurship
• The role of export-oriented industries in driving growth
Proposals that address the following cross-cutting issues will be encouraged.
• Fragile and conflict affected states
• Gender
• Climate, environment and social compliance
Proposals for Exploratory Grants can be submitted at any time and will be awarded primarily to allow researchers to:
• explore new approaches to the study of firms in low-income countries
• develop new (or build on existing) sources of data on firms in low- income countries.
Grants will range in value from between £10,000 to £35,000 (value for money will be a guiding evaluation criterion). The grants are designed to provide financial support for the individuals undertaking the research and to cover reasonable associated costs that are directly related to the proposed research project.