The document summarizes research on the external context factors that influence think tank decision-making and performance. It outlines the main research questions, which examine how context is defined and measured, how it affects think tanks, and how think tanks respond to context. Four main external context factors are identified: political and economic context, donors, intellectual context, and civil society context. The research involved interviews, literature reviews, surveys, and case studies to explore these relationships. Context was operationalized using quantitative indicators that are widely available, consistent, and understandable. Preliminary results found few significant relationships between context measures and think tank outcomes, but a negative correlation between GDP and levels of policy discussion, implementation, and adoption.