Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) Exploratory Grants

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 and 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.

Who is eligible?
Grants will be awarded on an individual basis primarily to researchers from academia, the non-profit sector, think-tanks and research centres, etc. Advanced stage PhD students may also apply – in which cases CEPR will request a letter from the student’s primary advisor that comments on the proposed research project and the student’s ability to carry out the project.