Glossary & Templates | Economic Research Southern Africa

Glossary & Templates

Welcome to the ERSA Glossary page, your guide to understanding the array of research outputs and publications we provide. Explore our extensive collection of working papers, policy papers, and policy briefs, all designed to provide in-depth insights and inform policy decisions. You can also access our annual report and stay updated with the latest research findings.

Economic Note

Economic Notes are articles that offer insightful analyses of economic research and policy, distilled for clarity and published to encourage dialogue and engagement.

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Policy Paper

Policy Papers are in-depth research reports, typically ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 words, that draw on academic and grey literature, as well as secondary data. Their primary goal is to propose policy options for specific economic challenges or to analyse the risks and opportunities associated with current policy considerations. These papers aim to offer risk-mitigation strategies and ways to capitalize on opportunities, providing valuable insights and recommendations for policymakers. To consolidate our resources, ERSA’s legacy research outputs previously categorised as discussion documents or occasional papers have been reclassified as policy papers.

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Policy Brief

Policy briefs extract the primary insights from complex research studies to clarify concepts and policy implications. They are generally shorter report of no more than three pages that can be easily understood and quickly absorbed by the media, civil society and policymakers.

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Working papers

ERSA working paper series holds an in-depth range of economics research and disseminates it to the wider Economics community to encourage comments and discussion. Papers posted here are in progress and considered to be pre-publication versions of academic journal articles, book chapters, or reviews. The Working Paper Series is also available on the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) website.

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Research

Request for proposals

We invite you to submit your papers for any of our upcoming initiatives. If you are interested in participating in one of our future projects, please select the initiative below and we’ll notify you regarding the next steps. Alternatively, you can also submit a working paper for research aligned with one of our economic research themes under the Working Paper Submission section in the Research menu tab.