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PEDL accepting applications for Projects Researching the Role of Development Finance

Deadline: 01-Nov-20

The Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) will now be receiving applications for projects researching the role of development finance: investments in private sector development that are impact-led but commercially rigorous.

CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) are sponsoring a new research initiative aimed at understanding the impact of development finance on private sector development. Issues of interest include the effect of investment on private sector growth; the characteristics of high-growth firms and how they impact on their sectors and localities; supporting decent work and gender; and production and distribution of broader inclusive products and services. Researchers will ideally partner with specific CDC investments, or alternatively, work with other businesses sufficiently comparable to build an understanding of the importance of investment in private sector growth.

PEDL is especially interested in expanding the role of data science to create new understanding and improve decision-making. Issues of particular relevance include:

  • What is the impact of larger-scale investment on private sector development in Africa and South Asia?
  • What types of firms create stable, inclusive, productive employment that allows workers to build human capital through working; when and why does this job creation happen? What do they know about displacement effects and the gig economy?
  • CDC invests in infrastructure, especially electricity, telecommunications, and logistics (e.g. ports, warehouses). What is the impact of infrastructure investments on private sector productivity?  What is the impact on citizens’ lives?
  • CDC invests in financial institutions. What types of financial services have the most impact for business productivity and individual wellbeing?
  • CDC has a growing climate finance portfolio. See its climate strategy; how can private sector investment support ‘Paris Alignment’: net-zero economies, Just Transition, and adaptation and resilience?

Funding Information

  • ERGs are grants of between £10,000 and £40,000. These grants will fund research assistance, data collection, and new surveys in LICs, and (if necessary) teaching buyouts for the principal investigator.
  • ERG projects typically run for 12 months.

Grant Set-up

  • ERG projects typically run for 12 months.
  • Please note that contracts should be signed within one month of the outcome notification, which is also the expected start date for the projects.
  • ERGs are designed to be contracted directly with individual researchers. The individual researcher will be responsible for receiving, spending, and reporting on funds. There should be no institutional involvement. In exceptional circumstances and with significant justification contracts can be drafted with the individual’s institution, but these are non-negotiable and the institution cannot take any overhead fees.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Only individuals can apply for a PEDL Exploratory Grant. PEDL Exploratory Grants will be issued through a contract between CEPR and the successful applicant directly.
  • In exceptional circumstances, a contract with an institution can be issued, but the contract will be non-negotiable, and the institution cannot take any overheads. This applies also to Doctoral students.

Note

  • All applicants are required to use the templates listed on their website under “Resources“;
  • Please note that at the beginning of your online application, you will need to select “I am applying to a special Exploratory Research Grant call“;

For more information, visit https://pedl.cepr.org/content/1st-cdc-erg-call-development-finance