Deadline: 10-Apr-24
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), on behalf of the FCDO Research Commissioning Centre, is inviting proposals from organisations or consortia to conduct a systematic review of the shadow economy in the Baltics.
The aim of this research is to identify evidence-informed policy options to tackle the shadow economy across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus, Georgia, and Moldova. The research is intended to draw lessons from the available evidence on the effectiveness of policies addressed to the shadow economy in European countries.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Research Commissioning Centre (RCC) has been established to effectively commission and manage research to enhance FCDO’s development and foreign policy impact. Led by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), the University of Birmingham, and an unmatched consortium of UK and global research partners, the RCC aims to commission different types of high-quality research in FCDO’s key priority areas. All FCDO-funded research and development (R&D) investments commissioned by the RCC will be implemented using rigorous and robust research methodologies and quality standards.
Research Need
- The research is intended to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of policy interventions tackling the grey economy across Europe, and identify lessons learned, and factors that could facilitate the success of those interventions in the Baltic countries, Malta, Cyprus, Georgia, and Moldova. Further, the research aims to identify considerations that account for the heterogeneity of the size of the grey economy across different estimation methods. The selected project team should conduct rigorous research to gather and analyse evidence that can inform policy decision-making for taking the necessary steps to:
- Put effective plans into action to tackle and reduce the grey economy.
- Explore factors that determine the variation in estimates across methods.
- The selected research team should also identify, and document lessons learned and make recommendations that project partners and stakeholders might use to improve the design and implementation of other related projects and programs.
Research Questions
- The objective of the project is to identify effective policies that contribute to reducing the grey economy in the Baltic countries, Malta, Cyprus, Georgia, and Moldova.
- The research should address the following questions:
- What is the available evidence on the effectiveness of policy interventions deployed to reduce the size of the grey economy?
- What are the unintended effects of reducing the grey economy?
- What methodologies are most accurate for measuring the size of the grey economy?
- Why do grey economy measures diverge and how to account for the differences between measures?
Funding Information
- Award size: up to GBP 100,000
Deliverables and Timeline
- The first step of the research project will be a kick-off meeting between the contracting authority and the successful bidder. Following this meeting, the team will conduct a scoping review to start taking stock of the available evidence. The team will hold online workshops with experts on the political economy of the grey economy in each considered country. The implementing team is then expected to prepare an inception report and deliver a slide presentation of the report.
- The presentation of the inception report will be followed by the interim stage, when the synthesis of the evidence will be carried out and the draft of the final report will be prepared. The preliminary findings will then be shared with the main partners in a presentation meeting. Lastly, the team will finish writing the final report and present it in a final meeting with the partners.
- The final output of the project will be a report, edited in English. The length of the report should not exceed 50 pages in total (excluding the annexes). The report shall be submitted within 12 weeks after the start of the project.
Preferred Expertise and Skills of the team
- The team members should have the following qualifications and expertise:
- Excellent knowledge and experience in informal economy with practical experience in advising national governments (and affiliated agencies) on designing and implementing policy interventions (possibly in FSU countries).
- Understanding of public sector reform issues as related to the implementation of policies addressed to the grey economy.
- Understanding of the specifics of the current governance systems and a knowledge of the dynamics of political, economic, social and technological transition.
- Proven experience in conducting systematic reviews or other methods for the rigorous synthesis of evidence will be considered an asset.
- Research experience in FSU countries.
- Excellent writing skills.
- Fluency in English.
Eligibility Criteria
- Only legally registered organisations and consortia of registered organisations, not individuals, may apply.
For more information, visit 3ie.