

By Rodrigo Canales, Julia Madrazo, and Jessica Zarkin

“The government expects a presentation of the findings in nine days,” we heard over a video call from one of our in-country staff members in Mexico City. He was referring to the results of the RECOVR (Research for Effective COVID-19 Response) survey, an effort we started in April in order to put IPA’s expertise at policymakers’ disposal to support them in their pandemic response.

Editor's note: This is a cross-posting of an interview with researcher Rodrigo Canales that originally appeared on the Yale School of Management's Yale Insights blog about his ...

A long-time supporter of IPA recently gave me the gift of a very open-ended question—something along the lines of “So, how did things go this year?” As we close a very eventful 2019, it was refreshing to be able to recollect some highlights of IPA’s policy engagement around the world and reflect on what we’ve learned and where we’re going next on the second pillar of our strategic ambition: sharing evidence strategically.

Partnering with governments on research projects is a great way to ensure buy-in to rigorous research from policymakers, but it comes with a unique challenge: those policymakers can change due to political transition or staff turnover in the middle of a study. When that happens, what does that mean for the research?




