Research

Research at IPRA

Research at the institute is organized into four key programme areas, focusing on critical issues related to economic development and policy. We strive to produce high-quality, impactful research that informs policy decisions and contributes to a deeper understanding of these important topics.

Our four key Research Programme areas

Trade and Economic Integration

We envisage trade agreements and policies that reflect the interests of poor countries and their citizens. Priority is given to Research that help to deepen regional integration, increase the competitiveness of select regional value chains, promote two-way trade within Africaand with the EU,the U.S., Asia and the Gulf States and facilitate investment and technology that drives trade growth intra-regionally and to global markets.

Research that discusses connectivity and value chains in Africa, included (but not limited to) the following issues:

Challenges and opportunities for African economies particularly the land-locked countries in the region to connect to GVCs and in relation to its trading partners in Europe, Asia, and North America;
Provide case studies or successful experiences from the region or individual countries particularly from Africa on how the countries have been successful in connecting and embedding their production networks into the GVCs; and
Clearly identify targeted policy initiatives that African countries can undertake to plug into and capture the gains from GVCs
Research that improves our understanding of market opportunities (the market’s size and growth potential, constraints and risks); identifies key competitors; conducts due diligence on potential trading partners and weigh up the advantages of foreign free zones;
Project that assesses the relative costs and benefits of proposed trade and investment initiatives;
Research that helps rationalise and improve trade infrastructure to facilitate and develop trade linkages and value chains;
Research that focuses on both domestic and cross-border competition issues, particularly the exposure of African economies to anticompetitive practices associated with the liberalization of trade and investment with a view of identifying ways of enhancing competition regimes supportive of inclusive growth.
Research that provides insights on building a new comparative advantage. The principal question to be addressed would be, how African countries can build comparative advantages in sectors that yield significantly higher value added and are also less prone to price shocks than the commodities that currently dominate their exports.

Research that provides insights on entering new market, whichhelp minimise the risks and avoid the pitfalls in new markets.It would address issues such as: regulations: rules of origin, technical standards, foreign ownership restrictions, dispute resolutions, non- tariff barriers, sanitary and phyto (plant)-sanitary regulations, local agency laws, property ownership, intellectual property rights (IPR), and customs clearance processes

Research related to any aspect of international trade and investment in services, including empirical analysis of

digitalization, sectoral policy and regulation, trade and investment agreements, international regulatory cooperation (e.g., on data privacy and data flows),
labour market effects of internationalization of services activities, and the role of services in value chains, offshoring and multinational production.

the role of services firms, foreign investment and direct and indirect trade in services in economic development, structural transformation and combating climate change.

Tax Policy & Domestic Revenue Mobilization

The Tax Policy and Domestic Revenue Mobilisation research programme aims to shape the policy debate on how to improve domestic revenues and reduce on government borrowing. Our research aims to contribute to a better understanding of howthe tax system (in Uganda/select African countries)works and what can be done to make it work better in meetingnational objectives.

Examples of policy questions that research projects may choose to address

include:

What scope is there, and what measures are available, to increase the level and/or efficiency of government revenue in Uganda/select African countries? How is revenue effort affected by external sources of financing? What is the appropriate balance between domestic and external sources of revenue in Uganda/select African countries?
What is the appropriate mix of tax instruments in terms of efficiency, equity and operational constraints in Uganda/select African countries? What policies or measures can lessen the trade-off between short term fiscal needs and long term efficiency and institutional improvements in revenue mobilization?
What have been the effects of trade liberalization on domestic revenue mobilization in Uganda/select African countries? Can trade liberalization spur tax system reform?
What institutional factors affect the success of tax reform in Uganda/select African countries? How is the political economy of tax reform different in particular African countries?
How do poverty reduction and/or private sector development goals constrain the design of an optimal tax system (for example, the mix of direct versus indirect taxes or the choice between various forms of indirect taxation–e.g., VAT, excise taxes, custom duties)? How can poverty reduction goals best be integrated into the design of tax policies?
What are the comparative poverty and social impacts of key tax reform options that have been considered in Uganda and other African countries? What is the scope for improving the implementation and/or assessment of those impacts?
Priority is attached to innovate projects that help to expand the tax base and integrate the informal sector into the tax system. Our research program also focuses on tax revenue forecasting, transfer pricing, natural resource taxation (the design of fiscal regimes for petroleum and minerals, encompassing royalties, taxation, production sharing, state participation, and pricing mechanisms); macro-fiscal models, macro-fiscal tax incidence modelling and analysis and simulation modules for key revenue groups (VAT, personal income tax, corporate income tax and excise tax).

Fiscal Policy and Sovereign Debt

Macroeconomic Policies, Productivity, Shocks& Growth

This research programme aims at analytic research that enable informed microeconomic analysis of major public policy issues, from productivity growth to poverty reduction, and from promoting employment to ensuring sound public finances. Our focus is on the careful modelling of individual, household and firm behaviour, combining cutting-edge empirical analysis with detailed understanding of policy options and implementation.The research program is organised around four specific themes.

Theme 1: Macroeconomic policies, shocks and growth

Priority is attached to research adding fresh insights on the channels through which macroeconomic policies affect economic growth as well as policy choices / policy-mix to accelerate growth, and to strengthen economy’s resilience to shocks (such as oil shock, global financial shock, COVID-19, etc.) or mitigate the social and economic impacts of different shocks.

Examples of policy questions in this area that research projects may choose to address include:

Through what channels do macroeconomic policies influence long-run growth in Uganda/select African countries? Will rapid and sustained growth suffice to attain the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for income poverty?
What types of shocks impact long-run growth in Uganda/select African countries? Through what channels? Can that impact be mitigated by public policy interventions aimed at improving the investment climate?
What types of shocks have a direct impact on poverty in Uganda/select African countries? How do shocks affect the relationship between growth and poverty? What are the transmission mechanisms?
What macroeconomic policies can be adopted to prevent and/or mitigate the impacts of different shocks on growth and poverty reduction? What are the comparative poverty andsocial impacts of employing macroeconomic policies to help absorb shocks?
Are migrants’ remittances pro-cyclical in Uganda and other African countries? Do those remittances help mitigate the impact of macro-volatility on the poor? What government policies influence migrants’ remittances?
Do shocks hinder the usefulness of fiscal policy rules in Uganda and other African countries? How can Uganda/African countries retain fiscal policy flexibility without endangering medium-term fiscal consolidation objectives?
How do sovereign financing strategies respond to inflation surges and how do policy practices affect their ability to weather inflation shocks.

What have been the poverty/distributional impacts of alternative fiscal policy regimes in Uganda/African countries? What other policies might be employed to mitigate any adverse distributional impacts of fiscal policy?
Our second priority is understanding the ‘path’ of development taken by other developing countries. We encourage a revitalization of the study of ‘economic history’ and its specific application to Africa’s economic evolution. A wealth of lessons has accumulated that has too often been ignored.
To determine the policy significance that should be attached to remittances, capital flight and corruption in the search for authentic African macroeconomic policy solutions, we need to better understand their dynamics. We therefore encourage research that looks for answers to the following questions: –
What is the structure of the markets, institutions and incentives governing these issues?
Given this environment, what behaviour do we observe and what is the link with development spending?
What reforms are needed to the system to change the behaviour or strengthen the impact on growth?

We are a leading independent, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to advancing evidence-based policy solutions for sustainable economic development in Africa.

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