Start of Main Content

Ghana Research Cluster

GPRL’s Ghana Cluster encompasses a range of studies, capacity-building efforts, and policy initiatives aimed at understanding and promoting development in Ghana. We focus especially on large-scale impact evaluations of programs relating to agriculture, education, health, livelihood, and social protection.

The main project of the Ghana Research Cluster is the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey (GSPS). The panel survey is nationally representative, and the goal of this project is to follow all individuals, or a random subset, over time using a comprehensive set of survey instruments to shed new light on long-run processes of economic development.

Four waves of surveys have been conducted so far: 2009-2010, 2013-2014, 2017-2018, and 2022-2023 respectively. In 2019, the Ghana Panel Survey was also administered to a sample of participants in Ghana’s rural north who had been classified as “extremely poor” through community-level focus groups.

In addition to the GSPS, there are other research projects in Ghana including: Promoting Infant-Directed Speech in Ghana, Graduating the Ultra Poor in Ghana, Disseminating Innovative Resources and Technologies to Smallholder Farmers in Ghana (DIRTS), and Escaping Poverty.

Affiliated Faculty

  • Chris Udry
  • Dean Karlan
  • Andrew Dillon
  • Lori Beaman

Institutional Partners

  • Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA Ghana)
  • Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana
  • Ghana Ministry of Education
  • Ghana Ministry of Food & Agriculture

Opportunities for Student Involvement

  • Field internships in collaboration with IPA Ghana and the University of Ghana
  • Data analysis roles focused on household and school surveys
  • Thesis support for students conducting research on education, health, or public administration in West Africa

Publications and Data

Contact us about the Global Poverty Research Lab


Global Poverty Research Lab
601 University Place |  Scott Hall |  Evanston, IL 60208