Policy research organisations in South Asia

The aim is to broadly understand factors that have led to the rise of policy research organisations in South Asia and the kind of roles they perform. Economic liberalisation has created an increasing role for multilateral institutions in social and economic development. The research conducted by these institutions does not always meet the standards of value-neutral scientifically rigorous social science research. Many social scientists across South Asian countries feel that such institutions neither reflect local social needs nor high standards of social science research. As the policy research organisations are not necessarily autonomous, they may be influenced positively by democratisation, participation, and liberalisation