Governance Initiative

election officials with ballot papers in a polling station

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J-PAL’s Governance Initiative (GI) funds randomized evaluations of interventions designed to improve participation in the political and policy process, reduce corruption and leakages, and strengthen state capacity.

By providing targeted funding for rigorous evaluations of the most promising programs to improve governance, GI aims to offer guidance for implementing organizations, governments, and donors, so that policies can be guided by scientific evidence to improve development outcomes.

Funding Cycles

GI is currently accepting proposals. See our Request for Proposals webpage for additional details.

Overview of standard RFP process:

GI has two funding cycles per year for full research projects, pilot studies, multidisciplinary projects, and travel/proposal development grants that address open questions outlined in the Governance Initiative Review Paper. RFPs are typically released in July and February.
J-PAL affiliates, J-PAL post-docs, and invited researchers are eligible to apply for funding for full-scale evaluations (for a maximum of $400,000; typically up to $250,000), pilot studies (up to $75,000), travel/proposal development grants (up to $10,000), and multidisciplinary research grants (up to $30,000). PhD students, with support from an adviser who is a J-PAL affiliate or invited researcher, are also eligible to apply for travel/proposal development grants, multidisciplinary research grants, and up to $50,000 for a pilot or full-scale study.
Each proposal is reviewed by three referees: an academic reviewer, a policy expert, and a member of the GI Review Board. The Review Board makes final funding decisions.

Key Facts

Sectors:

Political Economy and Governance

Office:

J-PAL Global

Co-Chairs:

Status:

Research RFP: Open

Eligibility:

For the Spring 2024 round, GI only accepted full, pilot, and travel/proposal development proposals from PhD-level graduate students of J-PAL affiliates or invited researchers (from any J-PAL initiative or regional office) and all proposals were required to relate to political participation.

Contact:

[email protected]

Funders

Request for Proposals

J-PAL’s Governance Initiative (GI) funds randomized evaluations of strategies to improve governance in low- and middle-income countries. GI has two funding cycles per year calling for proposals from J-PAL affiliates, J-PAL postdocs, and J-PAL invited researchers (from any J-PAL initiative or regional office) for full research projects, pilot studies, travel/proposal development grants, multidisciplinary grants, and policy outreach support grants.

GI is currently accepting proposals. Please see the RFP website for more details.

For researchers

Conference Travel Grants

In an effort to foster global collaboration between researchers working on governance topics, GI launched a conference travel grants program to support the participation of researchers based in low and middle-income countries to attend leading economics international conferences.

Due July 15th, 2024: J-PAL Governance Initiative (GI) & the North East Universities Development Consortium (NEUDC): Call for Papers now open and limited travel funding available

NEUDC is one of the major annual conferences dedicated to development economics, taking place this year on November 2nd-3rd at Northeastern University. GI is partnering with NEUDC to cover the cost of attending and traveling to NEUDC for LMIC-based PIs accepted to present on a governance theme. To be eligible for GI funding, you must submit a paper during NEUDC’s ongoing Call for Papers (closes July 15), be accepted to present on a governance theme, and be based in an LMIC. All such researchers will be automatically considered for travel/conference funding by GI.

Learn more

Initiative Staff

Elizabeth Graff, Policy Manager

Gabrielle Fiore, Senior Manager of Finance and Operations

Governance Initiative

Funding Cycles

Key Facts

Funders

Featured Content

Political Economy and Governance