International Growth Centre

What International Growth Centre does

The International Growth Centre (IGC) is a non-profit research organisation founded in 2009 and headquartered at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), operating as a joint initiative between LSE and the University of Oxford. Its core function is to produce pathbreaking, policy-relevant economic research and to engage directly with policymakers in developing countries across 13 country ecosystems — Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Jordan, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia — through resident PhD fellowships, mentorship programmes, visiting lectures and country offices. Thematic coverage spans firms, cities, energy, state effectiveness, climate change, gender equality, trade and taxation, with named initiatives including Cities that Work, the State Fragility initiative, Tax for Growth, the SGB Evidence Fund, the Agri-SME Evidence Fund, the Energy Insights and Innovation Lab (EIIL, with Tata Power and LSE) and the Climate and Growth Initiative. Outputs are published openly as growth briefs, evidence and strategy papers, datasets and multimedia (597 items), supported by an Events programme that includes Growth Week, summer schools, webinars and the BREAD-IGC virtual PhD course; distribution runs through the theigc.org website, partner platforms VoxDev and Ideas for India, and citations in The Economist and Brookings.

IGC has no commercial product, software platform or paid pricing tier; all publications, datasets and policy resources are provided free of charge. Revenue derives almost entirely from UK Aid via the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), supplemented by strategic co-development partnerships (most notably the December 2025 EIIL with Tata Power embedding behavioural science, data analytics and energy-system modelling inside Tata Power's 12.8 million-customer Indian operations) and research collaborations with bodies such as the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators, Tax Justice Network, Skatteforsk and Charles University. The go-to-market is community-led and content-driven: engagement with hundreds of academics from institutions including Yale, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and LSE, combined with direct country-level policy advisory work, constitutes the operating model rather than a traditional sales motion.

Name

International Growth Centre

Legal name

International Growth Centre

Website

https://www.theigc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The International Growth Centre is a UK Aid-funded, non-profit research joint initiative of LSE and the University of Oxford that produces evidence-based economic research and policy advice for policymakers across 13 developing countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Development Economics Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Administration of Economic Programs (926)

SIC

International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Economic Growth, Livelihoods & Private Sector Development (BPADAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Economic Research, Statistics & Policy Advisory (BPADAMAJ), Institutional Capacity Building & Training (Workforce/Systems Strengthening) (BPADAEAC), Program & Project Implementation (TA Delivery) (BPADAEAA)

Keywords

• Development economics research
• Inclusive growth policy
• Economic policy advisory
• Applied development research
• Growth policy briefs

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government/Institutional Funding: IGC is funded primarily by UK Aid through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The organization operates as a research center that provides free access to its publications, research, and policy resources, with no commercial revenue model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The International Growth Centre is a non-profit research organization that works with policymakers in developing countries to promote inclusive and sustainable growth through pathbreaking research. It conducts applied development economics research, produces policy briefs and evidence papers, hosts events, runs funding programs for researchers, and engages in direct policy advisory work through country-specific programs and local ecosystems in 14 developing countries.

Product overview

The International Growth Centre (IGC) is a research organization that works with policymakers in developing countries to promote inclusive and sustainable growth through pathbreaking research. IGC does not offer a commercial product or software platform but instead provides research initiatives, publications (growth briefs, evidence papers, policy briefs), events, funding programs for researchers, datasets, and forums such as the 'Jobs of the World' job portal. Their work spans multiple thematic areas including cities, energy, state effectiveness, firms, climate change, gender equality, trade, and taxation, delivered through country-specific programs and collaborative initiatives with academic institutions such as the London School of Economics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cities that Work A policy advisory initiative that works with city governments and policymakers in developing countries to promote evidence-based urban policy and inclusive city growth.

Quantifiable outcome

• Research showing financial literacy training can increase SME profits by approximately 26%
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 December 2025IGC is a joint initiative between LSE and the University of Oxford. LSE provides the institutional home and academic infrastructure for IGC's research operations, including hosting the headquarters and co-developing research programs.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 December 2025IGC is a joint initiative between LSE and the University of Oxford. Oxford contributes through its faculty including Paul Collier as IGC Director, and researchers from Oxford's Department of Economics and School of Public Policy.
• Tata PowercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 December 2025Tata Power partnered with LSE and IGC to launch the Energy Insights and Innovation Lab (EIIL) in Mumbai. The lab conducts research on consumer behavior and electricity demand management as part of India's clean energy transition. Embedded within Tata Power's operations serving 12.8 million customers, the facility applies behavioral science, data analytics, and energy system modeling.
• Commonwealth Association of Tax AdministratorsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 December 2025IGC's Tax for Growth initiative collaborates with the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators on surveys and research regarding AI deployment in tax administration across Commonwealth countries.
• Tax Justice NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2025Co-organizing workshops on administrative micro-data in tax abuse research, bringing together researchers and tax administrations to share methodologies and improve data access frameworks.
• SkatteforskminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2025Co-organizing in-person workshop in Prague on December 16-17, 2025 focused on best practices for research-government partnerships in tax administration.
• Charles UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 September 2025Co-organizing workshop on administrative micro-data in tax abuse research held at Charles University.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• J-PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab): J-PAL conducts randomized controlled trials to evaluate development programs in developing countries, sharing IGC's mission of evidence-based policy research aimed at reducing poverty and promoting inclusive growth. Both operate global networks of academic researchers producing rigorous development economics research.
• Overseas Development Institute (ODI): ODI is a UK-based independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues, producing policy research and advisory work for governments and multilaterals. It is a direct peer of IGC in the London-based development policy research ecosystem and shares similar funding sources.
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS): IDS is a UK-based academic institution focused on international development research, teaching, and policy engagement. It operates with similar UK Aid funding patterns and conducts research on economic development, governance, and social policy in developing countries.
• Center for Global Development (CGD): CGD is an independent policy research organization producing evidence-based analysis on global development, aid effectiveness, and economic growth in developing countries. It shares IGC's model of combining rigorous research with direct engagement of policymakers.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA): IPA designs and evaluates programs targeting poverty in developing countries using randomized evaluations. It overlaps significantly with IGC's evidence-based policy research mission and works with similar LMIC country portfolios.
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions for ending hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. It shares IGC's approach of combining agricultural/economic research with country-level policy engagement in LMICs.
• UNU-WIDER (United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research): UNU-WIDER is a development economics research and training institute working on economic policy in developing countries. It shares IGC's mission of producing pathbreaking research on inclusive economic growth.

Broad incumbents

• Brookings Institution: Brookings is a major US-based public policy organization with extensive research on global economy and development, where IGC-affiliated commentary is occasionally featured. It is a broader policy research incumbent that overlaps with IGC on development economics topics but operates at much greater scale and topical breadth.
• World Bank Development Research Group: The World Bank's research arm produces influential economic research on developing countries and engages directly with policymakers globally. As a multilateral institution, it dwarfs IGC in scale and funding but operates on adjacent mandates around growth and development.
• UNDP (United Nations Development Programme): UNDP works across more than 170 countries to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality through policy advice, research, and program implementation. It is a broader institutional incumbent that shares IGC's development mandate but operates at vastly greater scale and with a different funding model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/The_IGC
• Facebookfacebook.com/internationalgrowthcentre
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-growth-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about International Growth Centre