Report
Evaluation of the Population and Poverty Research Initiative (PopPov)
Jan 20, 2014
The RAND Corporation evaluated the Population and Poverty Research Initiative (PopPov) and its progress in achieving its goals of building and advancing the field of economic demography, orienting the work toward policy-relevant research, increasing economic policymakers’ recognition of the value of lowering population growth rates and investing in family planning, and strengthening research capacity in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Since 2005, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with collaboration and co-funding from research councils in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, and Norway and from the World Bank, has invested in a portfolio of social science research on the relationship between population dynamics and micro- and macroeconomic outcomes. It is known as the Population and Poverty Research Initiative (PopPov), and its geographic focus is on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The starting premises that led to the development of PopPov were that evidence showing that population dynamics could affect economic outcomes might increase the interest of ministers of finance in funding population policies and that they might be most convinced by rigorous research done by respected economists. The core aim of the program has been to build or rebuild and advance the field of economic demography, orienting the work toward research that would be relevant for policy and would increase recognition by economic policymakers of the value of lowering the rate of population growth and investing in family planning. The program also aimed to strengthen the capacity of researchers in SSA. PopPov tried to achieve these aims through four main components: (1) grants to support research on PopPov core topics of interest, (2) fellowships to support graduate students preparing their doctoral dissertations, (3) conferences and workshops to support the development of networking opportunities, and (4) other dissemination activities. This report provides results of a RAND Corporation evaluation of PopPov.
Section I
Introduction
Section II
History and Overview of PopPov
Section III
Methodological Approaches for the Evaluation
Section IV
Findings for the Evaluation Questions
Section V
Suggestions Regarding the Future of PopPov and Recommendations Based on the Evaluation
Appendix A:
Key Informants Interviewed by RAND Project Staff
Appendix B:
Information About Respondents to Our Online Survey
Appendix C:
Journals in Which PopPov Research Has Been Published
Appendix D:
Definitions of Economic Demography in Descriptions of Courses on Economic Demography
The research described in this report was sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Fondation and was conducted by RAND Labor and Population.
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