Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) has announced a new call for research proposals under its Human Capital Policy Programme. This initiative seeks to generate high-quality, policy-relevant evidence to support South Africa’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its health system. By funding rigorous research, ERSA aims to help policymakers better understand the economic and structural challenges influencing health outcomes, service delivery, and long-term human capital development in the country.
Purpose of the Programme
South Africa’s health sector continues to face significant pressure arising from inequality, rising healthcare costs, shifting disease burdens, and persistent disparities between public and private systems. In response, ERSA is inviting researchers to contribute analytical work that supports better decision-making and aligns health-sector reforms with national development priorities. The programme places particular emphasis on advancing practical solutions, generating accessible evidence, and encouraging the use of interdisciplinary methodologies.
Priority Research Themes
ERSA welcomes proposals that address one or more of the programme’s priority research areas:
1. Health System Performance and Financing
Researchers are encouraged to explore the efficiency, equity, and sustainability of South Africa’s health system. Topics may include comparisons between provinces, evaluations of funding models, the effects of health insurance reforms, or assessments of financial pressures facing facilities and households.
2. Service Design, Costing, and Implementation
Proposals that examine how health services are structured, delivered, and resourced are strongly encouraged. This includes costing studies, operational challenges, workforce capacity analysis, and evaluations of interventions aimed at improving service quality or access.
3. Health Technology Assessment
Research into the cost-effectiveness, affordability, and policy implications of health technologies including diagnostics, treatments, and digital health innovations is welcomed. Studies that provide clear value-for-money insights will be considered highly relevant.
4. Equity, Access, and Social Determinants of Health
ERSA seeks proposals exploring socioeconomic and geographic inequalities in health outcomes and services. Research may focus on access barriers, the influence of social determinants, or the distributional impact of health policies across different population groups.
5. Behavioral and Informational Economics in Health
Projects investigating behavioral incentives, decision-making patterns, information asymmetries, or behavioral interventions in healthcare settings are particularly encouraged.
6. Comparative Health Economics
Comparative studies that position South Africa within broader regional or international contexts are also welcome. These may help illuminate lessons from other health systems or provide benchmarks for evaluating local performance.
Proposal Requirements and Expectations
All submissions should clearly demonstrate how the proposed research will contribute to both academic understanding and real-world policy implementation. Proposals must show methodological feasibility, outline expected data sources, and include a realistic work plan. While projects involving primary data collection are welcome, researchers must ensure their design can be completed within a typical 12-month research cycle.
ERSA encourages interdisciplinary approaches that draw on diverse datasets, including household surveys, health facility records, administrative data, or novel sources generated by the researchers themselves.
Funding and Deliverables
Successful applicants will receive financial support for the development of a working paper. Additional funding may be available for projects requiring primary data collection. Researchers will be expected to participate in programme workshops, share preliminary findings, and submit a near-final version of their paper prior to a year-end conference. Final outputs will include a full working paper and a concise policy-oriented deliverable such as an executive summary or policy brief. Researchers will retain ownership of their work, while ERSA holds the right to publish and disseminate the findings.
Application and Review Process
Proposals must be submitted through ERSA’s online system by the specified deadline. Submissions will be reviewed by the ERSA Research Committee, with support from external experts as needed. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision shortly after the review period.
