Building on the success of the first Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment (PAGE) program (2012-2016), 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.
To build and promote research capacities in developing countries
In accordance to PEP’s core mission, the PAGE II program includes an important “capacity building” component. Through this initiative, PEP will allow numerous teams of researchers, based in developing countries, to benefit from the unique and manifold PEP "Grant Plus" research support program as they conduct high quality and policy-engaged research projects.
One particular feature of PAGE II is that, although proposals are welcome from all developing countries, priority is given to researchers from and based in low-income countries (LICs), fragile and/or conflict states - see list of targeted countries. At least 40% of projects supported by PEP through the PAGE II program will be led by teams of researchers from these countries.
Call for proposals, selection process and training
Research teams to be supported under PAGE II are selected through a series of open and competitive calls for proposals, launched in 2016, 2017 and 2019. All PEP-PAGE projects are carefully selected after a thorough review process involving several rounds of evaluation and leading to the presentation/discussion of shortlisted proposals to an audience of peers and PEP-affiliated international experts during a PEP conference.
One new feature of the PAGE II initiative is that all members of shortlisted applicant teams are invited to participate in a distance (online) training course in the specific research methods/tools to be applied in their project. Only those who successfully complete these courses are then invited to present their project proposal at one of the PEP Annual Conferences.
The 2017, 2018 and 2019 PEP Annual Conferences, held in the context of PAGE II, featured a series of intensive training workshops - in research methods, policy engagement, communication and scientific writing - for shortlisted applicants, who were then invited to present and discuss their project proposals and/or research findings, for peer-review and final evaluation by PEP scientific committees.
A total of 45 projects have been selected for support under the two first rounds of PAGE II funding - 29 projects were selected in 2017, and 16 projects in 2018 (see below) - the majority are still ongoing, but some have already published their PEP working papers and policy briefs, and also held national policy conferences.
A new call was launched in 2019, for the selection of 13-15 new projects to be supported under a 3rd round of PAGE II funding. The call is now closed and shortlisted proposals were presented and discussed during a special PEP general meeting, held in Saly, Senegal, in September 2019. One particular feature of this 3rd round is that all projects must be led by mixed teams involving researchers and government officers.
For the analysis of specific and country-relevant policy issues
For this second PAGE program, 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.
From a variety of methodological approaches
Building on fourteen 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 in 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.
Find out more about the four PEP TRGs through the following links:
- Community-based monitoring systems (CBMS)
- Macro-micro policy simulations (MPIA)
- Microeconomic analysis (PMMA)
- Experimental research (PIERI)
Under the 3rd funding round in particular, all projects must also incorporate a gender analysis component, and teams are provided with special training, and mentorship support, by PEP-affiliated gender experts to apply related methods and techniques.
Projects selected for PEP support under PAGE II
A total of 45 projects, in 33 different countries, have received support under the PAGE II initiative (full list below). PEP selected the grant recipients from over 500 applications received in response to a series of competitive calls for proposals that were launched in 2016 and 2017. Twenty-nine projects were selected following the presentation of shortlisted proposals during 2017 PEP Annual Conference in Nairobi and a further 16 projects were selected following the during 2018 PEP Annual Conference in Bangalore, India.
The 45 projects include:
- 21 projects in low-income economies and/or fragile or conflict-affected situations (LIE/FS)
- 28 projects in Africa, 8 in Latin America, 6 in Asia, 2 in Eastern Europe and 1 in the Middle East
- 17 projects led by female team leaders and 21 projects that focus on gender issues
- The first PEP Institutionalization Project
These projects involve a total of 203 researchers, of whom:
- 117 are women
- 99 are in low-income economies and/or fragile or conflict-affected situations
The projects selected investigate various aspects of the five PAGE II priority themes relating to growth and employment. Topics include gender pay gaps and gender disparities, food security, the micro, small, and medium enterprise sectors, the effects of conflict, migration and remittances, and mobile money for financial inclusion.
In 2019, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada awarded extension funding to PEP for a third round of projects. A competitive call for proposals was launched in April and 14 projects were selected for support in September. Find out more about PAGE II-Round 3.
In the table below, the projects are grouped according to the analytical approach (research method applied). Follow the code links in the left hand column to view the project description and related publications.
Project code (link) | Project title | Country |
Microeconomic analysis | ||
PMMA-19978 | Financial inclusion and gender disparity in risk appetite for micro, small and medium enterprises performance: evidence from Ethiopia | Ethiopia* |
PMMA-19983 | Rural nonfarm engagement and agriculture commercialization in Ghana: complements or competitors? | Ghana |
PMMA-19985 | Analysis of youth underemployment in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia | Macedonia |
PMMA-20000 | Gender pay gap in times of austerity | Serbia |
PMMA-20015 | Labor force participation for educated females and gender wage gap in Palestine | Palestine** |
PMMA-20026 | Cognitive skills, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in Indonesia | Indonesia |
PMMA-20055 | Non-farm participation, agriculture productivity and farmers’ welfare in East Africa | Kenya |
PMMA-20083 | Youth unemployment and transition from school to work in Benin | Benin* |
PMMA-20102 | Informal employment and labour market policies. The case of domestic workers in Uruguay | Uruguay |
PMMA-20280 | ‘Work-study’, internship and educational mismatch among youths: Evidence from Zambia | Zambia |
PMMA-20279 | Access to child care and mothers’ employment quality: lessons from Chile | Chile |
PMMA-20272 | Understanding youth entrepreneurship in Benin: the role of microcredit uptake and entrepreneur capacity building | Benin* |
PMMA-20257 | Civil conflict and labour market outcomes in Sierra Leone | Sierra Leone*** |
PMMA-20210 | Can urbanization improve household welfare and provide inclusive opportunities? The case of urban expansion in Ethiopia |
Ethiopia* |
PMMA-20209 | Migration, remittances and child schooling in rural Cambodia | Cambodia |
PMMA-20201 | Gender and age diversity to foster innovation and productivity growth | Brazil |
PMMA-20167 | Employment vulnerability, earnings And subjective well-being in Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyzstan |
PMMA-20166 | Do out-migration and remittances induce shifts to non-farm entrepreneurship among the left-behind? Evidence from Nepal | Nepal* |
*Low-income economies (LIE) **Fragile or conflict-affected situations (FC) ***LIE and FC | ||
Macro-micro policy modelling | ||
MPIA-19971 | A macro-micro simulation modelling on the poverty alleviation policies in Tanzania | Tanzania* |
MPIA-19999 | Impact of APE on women’s employment in Senegal: The role of public investments? A dynamic CGE analysis (French) | Senegal* |
MPIA-20006 | Agricultural reforms, employment and poverty reduction: A dynamic CGE analysis (French) | Niger* |
MPIA-20030 | Resource allocation across sectors, poverty and income inequality in Ethiopia: CGE modelling approach | Ethiopia* |
MPIA-20066 | Impact of agro-industrial policies on gender inequality in Burkina Faso: A CGE analysis (French) | Burkina Faso* |
MPIA-20094 | Agricultural policies, employment and women’s income in Burkina Faso (French) | Burkina Faso* |
MPIA-20108 | Commodity booms, human capital, and economic growth. an application to Colombia | Colombia |
MPIA-19906 | Institutionalization project – Economic Research Institute | Mongolia |
MPIA-20290 | Post-conflict and rural income in Colombia | Colombia |
MPIA-20261 | Assessment of the welfare, employment and gender impacts of policy options for renewable energy financing in Nigeria | Nigeria |
MPIA-20260 | Exchange rate policy in a dollarized economy: Implications on growth and employment in Bolivia | Bolivia |
MPIA-20242 | Can a wage subsidy be used to improve women’s formal employment in Zambia? | Zambia |
MPIA-20234 | Identifying key policy options for growth and gainful employment in Ghana | Ghana |
*Low-income economies | ||
Experimental research, using randomized controlled trials | ||
PIERI-12942 | Academic ambassadors and the diffusion of digital financial services among the Peruvian poor | Peru |
PIERI-13014 | Impact des modèles innovants de Conseil Agricole et d'Entrepreneuriat des Jeunes sur la résilience et la sécurité alimentaire des ménages au Bénin | Benin* |
PIERI-13129 | The impacts of access to free childcare on women's labor market outcomes and children's cognitive development | Mongolia |
PIERI-12937 | Stimulating SME performance and recovery in the aftermath of the Ebola crisis: Evidence from a business | Liberia*** |
PIERI-20281 | Can mobile money induce entrepreneurial and financial behaviors of members of village savings and loan associations in rural southern Malawi? | Malawi* |
PIERI-20165 | Can discounted withdrawal fees catalyze mobile money usage? Field experimental evidence from Gambia | Gambia*** |
*Low-income economies (LIE) **Fragile or conflict-affected situations (FC) ***LIE and FC | ||
Community-based monitoring systems – CBMS | ||
CBMS-19956 | Agricultural investments, labor productivity and rural poverty reduction: gender disparities in Togo | Togo*** |
CBMS-19996 | Understanding the challenges of financial inclusion of rural women's entrepreneurship in Nicaragua | Nicaragua |
CBMS-20010 | Determinants of financial inclusion among young micro and small business entrepreneurs: Evidences from Asella town and Shirka Wereda | Ethiopia* |
CBMS-20034 | Analyzing the impact of a social protection programme on women’s poverty and employment (French) | Burundi*** |
CBMS-20035 | Does addressing gender inequalities and empowering women improve development programme outcomes? | Ghana |
CBMS-20058 | Social capital and women's empowerment in Kenya: Case study of Murang'a County | Kenya |
CBMS-20068 | Youth unemployment in Botswana: Understanding the demand and supply gaps | Botswana |
CBMS-20141 | A livelihood approach to understand financial inclusion as informed by the Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) study in Katakwi subcounty of Katakwi District | Uganda* |
*Low-income economies (LIE) **Fragile or conflict-affected situations (FC) ***LIE and FC |
Find out more about:
Or, more generally, about PEP:
- "Grant Plus" research support mechanism
- Thematic research groups
- Support and requirements in terms of policy engagement and communication
- PEP annual conferences