9810889 Edwards The objective of this project is to form new research ties between Latin American and US-based researchers in the area of economic development studies, with the ultimate goals of strengthening Latin American research capacity and filling gaps in our empirical understanding of development issues affecting the region. To achieve these aims, this proposal would launch two related US-Latin American collaborative efforts. First, it would establish the Hemisphere Fellowship program, which would use travel grants to finance the participation of US-based researchers in the Interamerican Development Bank's Regional Research Network (RRN). The RRN is a well-established intraregional group of Latin American researchers and institutes that work on key development issues affecting the region. Second, each year NSF will finance two Hemisphere Workshops - working meetings each year that would promote collaboration by bringing together RRN and US-based experts to explore pressing development issues. The procedure for identifying research topics and researchers helps ensure that their topics fill important gaps in knowledge, and that the institutes chosen to carry out RRN research are the appropriate ones. The IDB Office of the Chief Economist chooses research topics for their relevance to major economic and social problems facing the Latin American/Caribbean (LAC) region, basing their selections on consultations with both an internal IDB committee and an external Blue Ribbon Committee. The external committee is made up of leading outside researchers and representatives of the public and private sectors. Each year, these consultations help the IDB to identify at least 7-8 topic areas in which research is needed. The following are a few examples: Determinants of domestic savings Regulation, organization, and incentives: The political economy of potable water supply Labor market regulation and employment Violence: Dimensions and control policies Ass ets and resources of the poor The RRN finances relatively long-term studies, typically lasting 1 1/2 to 2 years each, that are aimed at filling important gaps in our basic knowledge of development issues facing the region. After the topics have been selected, the IDB chooses one or two leading external researchers to coordinate each project in collaboration with one or two IDB researchers. Third, the IDB sends out a request for proposals, including a description of expected research methodology, to all 240 institutes in its research network. Institutes from small, low-income countries are especially encouraged to compete. Finally, the project coordinators and the Chief Economist together review the proposals and select 4-8 institutes to receive grants. The process of research on these topics is strongly collaborative. Within a few weeks after receiving notice of the grants, researchers from the selected institutes attend an initial meeting in which they comment on each others' research proposals, a process that allows intraregional learning to begin immediately. This project would build on the strengths of the IDB's Regional Research Network, extending its reach and scope. Combined with funds provided by the World Bank, the proposed NSF grant would fund two new avenues for research interaction, the Hemisphere Fellowship program and Hemisphere Workshops. Each of these would extend the work of the RRN and begin to lay the groundwork for a Western Hemisphere research network. Together, they would serve to stimulate sustained one-on-one research between US and Latin American researchers -- with consequent benefits for knowledge dissemination and capacitybuilding -- but would do so within the context of an established network (RRN) that can ensure some continuity and stability of these US-Latin American links.
