Call for research proposals

Although suggestive, this list is not exhaustive. Any other well posed question of relevance to the topic of skill formation (in any stage of life) in Latin America will also be considered. Proposals should be sent to investigacion@caf.com no later than January 30, 2015. Winners will be notified by February 16, 2015 and will have until June 30, 2015 to submit a preliminary draft of the paper. In mid-July we will host a seminar in a still to be determined city in the region where authors of selected papers will be invited to present. Each proposal (up to four) will receive USD 15,000 to finance the research. Final papers will be part of CAF's working paper series, but authors will be free to publish them in academic journals.

Issues to be addressed:

• Relationship between health and the development of cognitive and non-cognitive abilities
• Medium and long-run effects of nutrition improvement along the life-cycle (early childhood, toddlerhood and adolescence).
• Peer effects in the formation of skills (at school, the neighborhood, or the workplace).
• Teacher's quality and students' performance. Selection, training and retention of talented teachers.
• Pedagogical innovations, incentives and class management skills to improve learning.
• Determinants of students' learning effort.
• The effect of sports and cultural activities on the physical and emotional development of children and adolescents.
• Impacts of reforms of length of school day.
• Contributions of Neuroscience to the understanding of skills formation.
• Effects of training programs focused on strengthening socio-emotional skills of adolescents and young adults. Design of appropriate strategies for individuals with different needs and in different contexts (family, school, community or neighborhood).
• Barriers to decent employment for youth. Importance of first job experiences for the subsequent career path.
• Effects of technical training and apprenticeship programs.
• Jobs of the future: Which abilities will firms demand?
• Effects of financial education programs.

Download here the call for proposal