The Centre for Economic Policy Research, through its Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries initiative, invites applications for its major research grants. These grants will support research that aims to better understand what determines the strength of market forces driving efficiency in low-income countries. Proposals should address the following themes:
•modelling market frictions in LICs using newly available data;
•micro-foundations of aggregate private sector performance;
•the dynamics of small and medium-sized enterprises – informality and entrepreneurship;
•the role of export-oriented industries in driving growth;
•micro studies of markets, including the role of intermediaries and contractual enforcement;
•identifying high growth microenterprises;
•agglomeration and other issues related to cities and firms.
Proposals that address cross-cutting issues such as fragile and conflict-affected states, gender, and climate, environment and social compliance are encouraged.
Organisations and institutions worldwide may apply. Joint proposals from consortia will be considered provided they have an appropriate legal arrangement. Grants are designed to fund teaching buyouts for principal investigators, research assistance and data collection and surveys in LICs. Grants are worth a minimum of £100,000, with an average grant size of £300,000. There is no upper limit.