Working Group in African Political Economy (WGAPE) 2023 Annual Meeting

The deadline to submit has closed.

The Working Group in African Political Economy (WGAPE) invites interested scholars to submit a paper to present at the Annual WGAPE Meeting, held this year in Nairobi, Kenya from June 22-23, 2023 (following the Africa Evidence Summit which will be held June 19-20th). The Working Group in African Political Economy (WGAPE) brings together faculty and advanced graduate students in Economics and Political Science who combine field research experience in Africa with training in political economy methods. The group has met semi-annually to discuss the in-progress work of its core members and has invited guests since 2002. It is co-led by Daniel Posner (Political Science, UCLA), Edward Miguel (Economics, UC Berkeley), Amanda Robinson (Political Science, Ohio State University), and Amma Panin (Economics, University of Louvain), and hosted by the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at UC Berkeley.

Please see the agenda here.

Meeting Information

WGAPE meetings center on research discussion sessions rather than presentations. Papers are circulated and expected to be read in advance by all participants. Presenters provide brief, orienting comments before the floor is opened for an hour-long discussion of each paper or research design. WGAPE accepts working papers and research designs (see an archive of papers from past WGAPE meetings here). We expect to accept around 8 papers, and will have training and networking sessions alongside the paper discussions. 

Paper Submission Categories

We invite paper and research design submissions that reflect WGAPE’s broad research agenda on the political economy of African development, including ethnic politics, civil conflict and violence, decentralization and democratization, corruption, local governance, public economics, and other related topics. Submissions outside of these areas are very unlikely to be selected regardless of their quality. WGAPE commonly, but not exclusively, selects submissions with a strong focus on fieldwork and quantitative analysis. Graduate students and junior faculty are particularly encouraged to apply. WGAPE particularly encourages submissions from applicants who teach, study or have completed a degree at an African university. 

We invite submissions of papers or research designs. Early-stage papers and research designs will be prioritized for inclusion. Highly polished papers are unlikely to be selected. Research design  submissions should describe a fully planned research study on topics relevant to WGAPE, as listed above. A suggested format for these submissions is the Pre-Analysis Plan (please find a template here). It is not necessary to reformat your Pre-Analysis Plan to fit the linked template, but a strong Pre-Analysis Plan will include the elements listed in the template.

Participant Costs and Travel

With assistance from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, WGAPE will provide funding for travel, accommodation, and related expenses for one author of each accepted paper.

Considerations for Submissions

Please see here for an example of three previously accepted submissions.

Reviewers will consider the following factors when making their decisions about which papers or research designs to accept:

1. Completeness of the submission: submissions will be rejected if they are incomplete or if the necessary details of the research design are not reported clearly and in sufficient detail.
2. Novelty: The study should add to or build on the existing literature, as well as advance the knowledge base about the research questions.
3. Relevance: The study should explore an area related to the political economy and development economics in sub-Saharan Africa, including civil conflict, decentralization and democratization, public economics, corruption, local governance, and other related topics. Note that quantitative studies will be prioritized (although studies that include some level of qualitative analysis are welcome).
4. Quality: Reviewers want to ensure the methodology is rigorous and sound. To that end, are the assumptions motivating the analysis reasonable? Is the research design clear and well-articulated?
5. Feasibility: For research designs, reviewers will consider whether the study is feasible to implement, and whether the proposed data collection will be sufficient to test the pre-specified hypotheses.

Successful applicants will be notified by April 7th, 2023 and will be expected to attend the full 2-day workshop.

For further information, please contact amyshipow@berkeley.edu.

The deadline for submission was 11:59 pm U.S. Pacific Time on Friday, March 17, 2023.