CID collaborator Jishnu Das shares an insightful update on the success of the Center for Economic Research (CERP), a research center based in Lahore, Pakistan. Co-founded by CID's faculty director Asim Ijaz Khwaja, CERP has found success where other research institutions have failed. What's their secret? And how can other institutions learn from CERP's success? "We have created a unique model where we have co-located knowledge production, capacity building and a products approach to deploying evidence and insights. Ultimately, everything we do advances our systems thinking and problem-driven iterative mindset. To actualize sustainable change, evidence matters. In the end, we are motivated to build an institution that outlives us.” CERP CEO Maroof A. Syed
#CERP has emerged as the top economics research institution in South Asia. This is because it has solved the *hard* problem that all Southern institutions eventually face: Why conduct top-notch research if the top-notch journals don't care about your country--and the funders care about your country, but don't care about top-notch research?