Evidence in Governance and Politics

What Evidence in Governance and Politics does

Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) is a global research, evaluation, and learning network founded in 2009 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It promotes rigorous empirical research and evidence-based policymaking in governance and accountability domains, operating with a small core staff (1-10 employees) that coordinates a network of 310 researchers and institutional members across 43 countries. EGAP's work is organized around four priority themes — Crime Reduction & Police Accountability, Climate Change Governance, Displacement/Migration & Integration, and Democracy/Conflict & Polarization — and its flagship Metaketa Initiative coordinates clusters of studies that evaluate governance innovations across multiple contexts to address the limitations of single-study findings.

EGAP's core offerings include the Metaketa Initiative (multi-context study coordination), Methods Guides (quantitative research best practices), Policy Briefs (accessible research summaries for policymakers), a Registry (pre-registration platform for experimental research), Learning Days (methodological training for Global South researchers, reaching 288 participants), Research Grants, an Online Feedback Session service, the Governance Loop Podcast, and a Community Experts Roster. The organization partners with government agencies (Liberian National Police, Uganda Police Force, Bogotá City Government, Ministry of Labor Peru), academic institutions (Cornell's Gender and Security Sector Lab), and development organizations (CAF Development Bank of Latin America) to design and execute field experiments, particularly RCTs and natural experiments, in collaboration with on-the-ground implementation partners like Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).

As a non-profit research network, EGAP does not sell products or services. Its outputs — Methods Guides, Policy Briefs, Registry, and Learning Days — are provided free of charge to participants, and the organization is funded through research grants and institutional support (with CAF identified as a co-funder of at least one study). Its business model is therefore best characterized as grant-funded academic coordination rather than commercial revenue generation. EGAP's go-to-market motion is community-led: it disseminates research through annual meetings (e.g., EGAP 30 in Zurich, EGAP 31 at Duke), Learning Days workshops, the Governance Loop Podcast, and policy engagement activities. The organization has recently expanded through Regional Hubs and the Mercury Project: Health Ambassadors, indicating a broadening of its applied research scope.

Name

Evidence in Governance and Politics

Legal name

Evidence in Governance and Politics

Website

https://egap.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) is a global research network of 310 members across 43 countries that designs and coordinates rigorous field experiments — including RCTs and natural experiments — to evaluate governance innovations and inform evidence-based policymaking for governments and Global South researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Network Operations: EGAP functions as a non-profit research and learning network that coordinates research grants, meetings, and capacity building activities. The organization connects researchers with funding and provides methodological training to Global South researchers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) is a global research, evaluation, and learning network that promotes rigorous knowledge accumulation and evidence-based policy in governance and accountability domains. It coordinates multi-context studies (Metaketa Initiative), provides methodological training for Global South researchers (Learning Days), funds governance research (Research Grants), disseminates findings through Policy Briefs and Methods Guides, and operates a Registry for pre-registering experimental studies.

Product overview

EGAP is a global research, evaluation, and learning network—not a software product company. Its offering consists of coordinated research programs, knowledge resources, and capacity-building services organized around four Priority Themes (Crime Reduction & Police Accountability, Climate Change Governance, Displacement/Migration & Integration, and Democracy/Conflict & Polarization). The core offerings include the Metaketa Initiative for multi-context research coordination, Methods Guides for quantitative research best practices, Policy Briefs for actionable research summaries, a Registry for study transparency, Learning Days for Global South researcher training, Research Grants for project funding, and an Online Feedback Session service for early-stage research design review. These programs work together to advance rigorous, evidence-based policymaking in governance and accountability domains.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Metaketa Initiative: Clusters of studies evaluating governance innovations in multiple contexts to improve upon single-study research.

Products and services

• Metaketa Initiative Clusters of studies evaluating governance innovations across multiple contexts to improve upon single-study findings and advance evidence-based policymaking. Targeted at academic researchers and policymakers seeking rigorous causal evidence.
• Learning Days Capacity-building program providing methodological training and support to researchers in the Global South who may lack access to training and up-to-date research resources.
• Research Grants Grants supporting research on governance innovations across EGAP's priority themes and geographic focus areas. Targeted at researchers conducting empirical studies on governance and politics.
• Registry Platform for registering research studies and experiments to promote transparency and reduce publication bias in governance research.
• Online Feedback Sessions Early-stage research design feedback service provided by EGAP members to help researchers improve their study methodologies and link research and practice.
• Community Experts Roster Network of community experts available for consulting and collaboration on governance and accountability research for organizations and policymakers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Communities receiving confidence patrols showed 16 percentage points higher felony reporting to police
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Liberian National PolicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEGAP partnered with the Liberian National Police to evaluate community policing 'confidence patrols' - recurring visits by retrained, better-equipped officers to rural communities. The study found these patrols reduced certain crimes and improved citizens' understanding of the criminal justice system.
• Bogotá City GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Bogotá city government to conduct randomized controlled trials on hot spots policing and city services. The city government provided access to police patrol data and implementation support for place-based interventions to reduce crime.
• Ministry of Labor PerucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Peru's Ministry of Labor to study team productivity between Venezuelan immigrants and native workers. The Ministry provided access to a virtual platform for measuring teamwork abilities and group dynamics.
• Cornell University Gender and Security Sector LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Cornell's Gender and Security Sector Lab, directed by EGAP member Sabrina Karim, researching how gender equality within security forces affects police personnel and soldier's perceptions and level of restraint on use of force.
• CAF (Development Bank of Latin America)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAF co-authored research on place-based policing interventions with EGAP researchers. The development bank provided funding and institutional support for the Colombia crime reduction study.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIPA conducted research activities including survey implementation for the community policing study in Liberia, providing field research expertise and safety protocols.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL): Global research center at MIT using randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in governance, health, and education. Closest peer to EGAP in mission, methodology (RCTs), and global research network structure.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA): Global research and policy nonprofit that designs and evaluates programs using RCTs in low- and middle-income countries. Directly comparable to EGAP as both run field experiments on governance and development, and IPA is already a confirmed EGAP implementation partner.
• International Growth Centre (IGC): Research organization providing evidence for inclusive economic growth in developing countries, using field experiments and policy engagement. Comparable network model with researchers and government partners across multiple countries.
• International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie): Nonprofit that promotes evidence-informed development policies through rigorous impact evaluation. Comparable commitment to RCTs, systematic reviews, and policy uptake in low- and middle-income countries.

Broad incumbents

• Center for Global Development (CGD): Think tank producing independent research on global development, governance, and aid effectiveness. Comparable policy research orientation, but with broader thematic scope and a more advocacy-oriented model than EGAP's network structure.
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS): Global research and learning organization on international development with focus on governance, power, and social justice. Comparable research network on governance themes, but operates through a single institutional hub rather than distributed members.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: Independent research institution conducting social science research including program evaluation and policy studies. Comparable in survey methods and policy research services, but at much larger institutional scale.

Others

• Bread for the World Institute: Policy research and advocacy organization on global hunger and development. Thematically adjacent but focuses on advocacy rather than RCT methodology.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/egaptweets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/evidence-in-governance-and-politics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Evidence in Governance and Politics