New PEP Call for Proposals – PAGE II (Round 2)

PEP launches a new call for project proposals of “Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment” (PAGE) in developing countries. The submission deadline is September 13, 2017 – see the list of important dates for this call. Proposals must be submitted using the relevant proposal templates (MPIA/PMMA and field experiment), following the relevant guidelines, and via the PEP intranet system – see detailed instructions and requirements below

Building on the success of its Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment (PAGE) program (2012-2015), PEP has been granted funding by the Department for International Development(DFID) of the United Kingdom (or UK Aid) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in 2016 to launch a new program supporting high quality research, capacity development, and policy engagement for growth and employment in developing countries: PAGE II.

Find out more about the PAGE II program here. You may also download the flyer for this call,for circulation in your network(s).

To build and promote research capacities in developing countries

In accordance with PEP’s core mission, this initiative includes an important “capacity building” component, and targets teams of researchers based in developing countries. Selected teams will benefit from the unique and manifold PEP “Grant Plus” support mechanism, as they conduct high quality research projects using cutting-edge methodologies and engaging with stakeholders to inform policy in their home countries.

Team composition

Applicant teams must:

• Be gender mixed, with female members representing at least 50% of all members (including the team leader).
  • PEP also encourages teams with a female leader.
• Be composed of at least two (2) junior researchers (aged under 30), all contributing substantively to the proposed research project.
• Have a maximum of four (4) members, except for field experiments (maximum five members; the fifth member needs additional justification)
• Be comprised exclusively of individuals born and living in a developing country.
• Present a sufficient academic and/or professional background in economics research/policy analysis.
  • In particular, having a masters degree/diploma or being currently enrolled in a masters program is considered a minimum requirement (team leaders would normally have a doctoral degree/diploma or be currently enrolled in a doctoral program).

Each team should identify one team member who has the expertise and capacities to replace the team leader if the latter is not able to complete the project for any reason.

Priority is given to low-income economies, fragile and/or conflict-affected situations (LFCs) but proposals are welcomed from all developing countries.

Only the field experiments (see below) are contracted with institutions. All other projects are contracted with individual researchers (team leaders).

See below for application details and procedure.

To analyze specific and country-relevant policy issues

For this second PAGE II call for proposals, five priority themes (all under the broad theme of inclusive growth and employment) have been identified as especially relevant in addressing knowledge gaps and policy needs in terms of evidence base. These themes, listed below, have been identified by international experts in the field of development economics.

• Youth employment: supply- and demand-side constraints and related policy options – description  /  readings
• Gender and women’s economic empowerment – description  /  readings
• Entrepreneurship and financial inclusion – description  /  readings
• Productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors – increasing labour productivity and reducing factor market imperfections –description  /  readings
• Sectoral composition and patterns of economic growth – implications for job-creation, employment and poverty reduction – description  /  readings

Click on the links next to each of the above-listed priority themes to download a detailed description of the theme (including examples of methodological approaches) and the associated list of recommended readings. For examples of methodological approaches using field experiments for the above research issues, please follow this link.

From a variety of analytical perspectives

Building on fifteen years of experience and the knowledge of a large pool of world-renowned experts in the field, PEP offers unique expertise in the application of cutting-edge methodologies and analytical techniques in economics and development research within the specific context of developing countries.

Beyond the geographic scope of its activities, another peerless feature of PEP is the breadth of analytical perspectives, tools and techniques that researchers can choose to apply and be trained in. Some of these tools – which are acknowledged worldwide as state of the art in the field of applied development research – have emerged directly from PEP research.  They are based on extensive experience in the analysis of policy issues related to poverty and economic development in the specific context of developing countries.

The PEP research support program spans four distinct thematic research groups (TRGs), each focused on a different set of methodological approaches. Each group involves experts from around the world who are assigned as mentors to the research project teams upon the teams’ selection.

For this particular call, PEP will be accepting proposals involving the following approaches:

• Field experiments (PIERI group)
• Macro-micro policy simulations (MPIA group)
• Microeconomic analysis (PMMA group)

Only projects using the first approach (field experiments) involve data collection. Proposals involving data collection will NOT be considered/accepted for support under the MPIA and PMMA groups.

While conducting their research work, all selected project teams will also be provided with customized and ongoing guidance/mentorship for the implementation of an effective policy engagement and communication strategy, to maximize chances that the research we support is taken up in policy processes at the local and/or national levels.

PAGE II – funding and selection process

This second round of the PAGE II initiative will fund up to 18 new projects, including up to 14 MPIA-PMMA projects and up to 4 field experiments (see below for details on the different types of projects).

Basic PAGE II funding is up to $58.5 K, including $22 K in a research (cash) grant and up to $36.5 K in various subsidies, such as for participation in PEP meetings and study visits, for publications in peer-reviewed journals, for presentations in international conferences, and for the organization of national policy conferences, etc.

Additional financing (US$15 K) will be allocated for projects involving field experiments.

Proposals are evaluated, and selected, based on criteria that vary according to the type of proposal (MPIA, PMMA, field experiment) but generally include:

• scientific quality – literature review, originality, methodology, data
• policy relevance/engagement – teams are required to consult closely with their intended research users to define demand-driven policy research questions
• capacity building – in particular the contributions and expected skills to be attained by each team member, especially female and junior researchers, as well as the capacity of the team to execute the project.

After the initial evaluation rounds (comments and revisions), a shortlist of applicant teams will be invited to:

• Participate in a distance (online) training course in the specific research methods/tools to be applied in their project.
  • All members of the shortlisted research teams are strongly encouraged to complete this course and teams are expected to be gender-balanced (at least 50% female) in terms of graduates.
• Develop the policy context analysis of their proposed project, including a preliminary stakeholder analysis

Subject to the successful completion of the relevant online course, up to two members of each finalist research team will then be invited to present their (revised) proposal at the 2018 PEP annual conference, where they will receive further training and comments/advisory on both the scientific and policy engagement aspects of their projects. Final selections will be announced after the conference.

Application details and procedure

N.B. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

Who can apply?

• All members of applicant teams must be developing country nationals (and reside in a developing country during the full course of the project), with priority given to teams from low-income economies, fragile and/or conflict-affected situations (see list of priority countries).
• A reseacher can be funded as a team member a maximum of two times by PEP. Researchers that have been funded once in the past must act as the team leader and propose a significantly higher quality proposal for a second project.

Interested researchers who are not eligible for funding are nonetheless encouraged to use the resources made available on the PEP website  (see “Resources” in main menu).

How to submit a proposal using the PEP intranet system

Applications must be submitted via the PEP intranet system, before September 13, 2017 (23:59 EST). Here are the steps to follow:

1. ALL members of the applicant teams must register on the PEP website BEFORE submitting a new proposal. To register, click Register (see also the top right corner of the PEP website header, next to “Login”) and follow the instructions.
2. Once registered, each member will receive a username and password by email, normally within minutes, and your profile will be activated within 24 hours.  Access your PEP intranet file by clicking on the Login button (also top right corner above) and entering the username and password received. Note that you can change your password yourself, through your personal intranet profile, at anytime.
3. ALL members of the applicant team must complete their PEP intranet profile, including their personal CV, birthday, highest diploma, a photo and short professional bio. To do this, each member should Login to the PEP website and then select “Profile” (and then “Upload CV“, “Upload photo”, etc.).
4. To then submit the proposal, the team leader must login, open menu under “My workspace”, click on “Submit New Proposal“, then fill out the required information and upload all required documentation using the mandatory PEP proposal templates as provided below – see “content of proposals“.
5. Once finished, to make sure that the proposal has been successfully submitted to PEP, simply return to your PEP intranet file and click on “My Projects“.

Content of proposals

In order to be considered, applicant teams ARE REQUIRED to submit their proposal using the following mandatoru templates – according to project type. Select and download/use the appropriate template below:

• Template for MPIA (modelling) and PMMA (microeconomic analysis) project proposal
• Template for submission of a field experiement project proposal

There are three main areas/dimensions to all PEP-supported projects: research, capacity building, research and policy engagement. Each dimension must be considered with due care and attention, as they will be assessed individually and concurrently to determine the overall quality of a proposal.

For guidance and/or information, you may also refer to the following:

• Guidelines for designing a (MPIA/PMMA) research project proposal
• Guidelines for preparing a field experiment project proposal
• PEP Grants Manual

Further requirements

The proposal should also correspond to one or more of the priority issues listed above.

PEP encourages applicant teams to submit proposals in English, but also welcomes proposals (including all supporting documents) that are submitted in French or Spanish.

PLAGIARISM is strictly unacceptable – more information about the definition of plagiarism and related instructions for citing sources. PEP uses a software program to detect cases of plagiarism.