We are happy to announce a restructuring of the PEDL themes, and the addition of theme leaders for each of the themes. Since our launch more than a decade ago, PEDL has been directed by myself and a rotating group of advisors, reviewers and panel chairs.
Beginning in 2023, we engage theme leaders for three research areas that are the focus of the PEDL research agenda. The theme leaders will take an active role in shaping the research agenda in their respective areas, engaging with the community of researchers and policy-makers to determine the policy-relevant questions at the cutting edge of research. I am extremely grateful for the willingness of all the theme leaders to engage with PEDL.
Innovation, Organisations and Markets, led by Eric Verhoogen, Jonas Hjort and Meredith Startz, will incorporate the previous themes of market frictions and trade, examining issues that are relevant to the organisation of economic activity within and across organisations in lower-income settings.
Climate and Environment, led by Namrata Kala, Clare Balboni and Jonathan Colmer, will focus our attention on the adaptation by firms to climate change and on the role of the private sector more broadly in adaptation and resilience of lower-income countries. The agenda on firms and climate change in a lower-income country context is not well established and an early task of the theme leaders in this area will be working to outline that agenda.
Finance and Entrepreneurship, led by Emily Breza and Emanuele Colonnelli, will focus on high-growth entrepreneurship, with an increased focus on venture capital and private equity, particularly in Africa.
In addition to these three themes, PEDL supports research related to the work of British International Investment (BII). I will continue to lead that work with the assistance of colleagues at BII and others in the research community.
We also retain Gender and Fragility as cross-cutting themes and add a cross cutting theme on the challenges of scaling up research into policy.
Within the next few months, we will release a revised research strategy that updates the strategy document published in 2016, as well as a calendar of workshops and calls for proposals to support research on the questions central to each of the themes.
The Scientific Director,
Christopher Woodruff
