active· Livelihoods

Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL)

Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) is a joint research initiative of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Department For International Development (DFID). It offers a competitive research grants scheme for projects related to the behaviour of firms in Low-Income Countries (LICs) that aim to better understand what determines the strength of market forces driving efficiency in these countries. It will pursue a research agenda focusing on private-sector development. Existing research suggests that the private sector in these countries faces a multitude of constraints. These constraints interact with one another. For example, the strategic interaction of firms with market power will be affected by the regulatory regime governing both new entrants and incumbent firms. What is needed is research which allows us to understand how these constraints interact. PEDL will pursue a range of approaches that promise to produce credible research results that will be useful for policy-making, supporting research related to private enterprises of all sizes, initially focused on four 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 and the role of export-oriented industries in driving growth. PEDL offers a mixture of substantial research grants and smaller “Exploratory” grants. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, with applications solicited from researchers throughout the world.