The Government Revenue and Development Estimations (GRADE) Project is a research-led initiative co-hosted by the University of St Andrews and the University of Leicester. GRADE enables users to model how changes in government revenue affect sustainable development indicators such as access to water, sanitation, education, and health. It was initiated in 2021 by researchers at the University of St
Andrews and the University of Leicester, with support from the Scottish Funding Council, the Global Challenges Research Fund, the Medical Research Council Impact Acceleration Account (MRC IAA), and the Professor Sonia Buist Global Child Health Research Fund. Developed to address the question of how government revenue affects progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the GRADE model quantifies the relationship between fiscal capacity and development outcomes — especially in education, health, water, and sanitation. The project combines large-scale econometric modelling with an interactive online tool designed for use by everyone, including decision makers, policymakers, NGOs, academics, and advocates. Specialties
Development Economics: Emphasis on how government spending translates into social outcomes, Policy Impact and Advocacy: Provides evidence to support equitable fiscal policy and global governance, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Demonstrating the interconnectedness of fiscal capacity, global financial architecture, and the realisation of key SDG indicators