Global priorities research (GPR) is research into issues that can help decide how to allocate finite resources most cost-effectively.[1] GPR can include finding and prioritising between different causes as well as macrostrategy or “foundational” research that would inform cause prioritization in a less direct way (e.g., research into the Fermi paradox or the hinge of history hypothesis).
Evaluation
80,000 Hours rates GPR a “highest priority area”: a problem at the top of their ranking of global issues assessed by importance, tractability and neglectedness.[2]
Further reading
Duda, Roman (2016) Global priorities research, 80,000 Hours, April (updated July 2018).
O’Keeffe-O’Donovan, Rossa (2020) An introduction to global priorities research, Effective Altruism Student Summit 2020, October 25.
An introduction to global priorities research, including a discussion of how it differs from cause prioritization research.
Related entries
cause candidates | cause prioritization | Cause X | Global Priorities Institute | less-discussed causes | local priorities research | macrostrategy
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Global Priorities Institute (2019) About us, Global Priorities Institute.
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80,000 Hours (2021) Our current list of the most important world problems, 80,000 Hours.