Consumer Protection Research Initiative Grant

Consumer Protection Research Initiative Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Innovations For Poverty Action
Amount: Up to US $300,000
Last Updated: May 21, 2025

Summary

The Consumer Protection Research Initiative by Innovations For Poverty Action invites proposals for grants aimed at impactful evaluations in consumer protection. This initiative focuses on reducing consumer risks in digital finance, emphasizing research on gender disparities and the role of agents in fostering trust. Grant amounts range from $75,000 for small projects to $300,000 for full evaluations, with a maximum of $900,000 considering exceptional proposals. The initiative encourages rigorous studies to inform policy and enhance consumer safety.

Overview

NOTE: While submitting an EOI is not required to submit a full proposal, we strongly encourage research teams to submit one. See RFP for optional EOI Deadline. Background IPA’s Consumer Protection Research Initiative (CPRI) accepts proposals for large grants that fund rigorous impact evaluations, as well as smaller grants that can fund pilots, add-ons to existing studies, low-cost evaluations such as lab-based experiments, or evaluations relying primarily on administrative data (e.g., A/B tests or quasi-experimental evaluations using historical data). Focus Areas Our primary focus is on evaluating interventions that reduce consumer risks and build trust in digital payments and credit products. We fund work addressing four core research areas: Fraud prevention and detectionHigh prices, price transparency, and market competitionOver-indebtedness and responsible digital credit, andComplaints redress mechanisms. This year, we are particularly interested in research that examines: Gender disparities in consumer protection, including solutions that may be particularly effective at mitigating risks and building trust for women.Studies focused on productive credit, particularly work focused on reducing risk for small business owners and smallholder farmers.The role of agents in promoting consumer protection in digital finance, for example in improving transparency, reducing overcharging, or preventing fraud. Project Types Small Projects (Pilots, Add-ons, and Lab/Admin Data Experiments) Up to $75,000 per project.This tier supports early-stage or lower-cost research activities, including pilot studies (testing the feasibility of an intervention with the intention of later conducting a fully powered impact evaluation), add-ons to existing studies (e.g., adding a new treatment arm to a separately-funded randomized controlled trial), lab experiments, or randomized or quasi-experimental evaluations that make use of administrative data as their primary data source.Full Impact EvaluationsUp to $300,000 per project. This tier supports full-scale impact evaluations of consumer protection interventions, typically through randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or other rigorous evaluation designs. Projects in this category should aim to produce generalizable evidence on what works to protect consumers and have potential for substantial policy impact. CPRI will award a maximum of $375,000 for small projects and $900,000 for full impact evaluations. Recognizing that research in certain locations or with specific populations may come at a higher cost, we will, in exceptional cases, consider budgets exceeding the award maximum. However, this flexibility is reserved for outstanding proposals that demonstrate exceptional value for money despite their higher cost.

Eligibility

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