WIDERAngle

Expert commentary from our network

About

The WIDERAngle publishes expert commentary and analysis of the latest research in global development. The WIDERAngle supports UNU-WIDER’s missions to undertake research and policy analysis on the most pressing concerns affecting humanity and provides a forum for knowledge sharing, discussion, and debate.

 

To see past newsletters, visit our WIDERAngle archive.

 

Write for the WIDERAngle

We accept submissions that represent sincere efforts to advance knowledge on topics related to the promotion of sustainable and equitable development for all. Although many of our writers are established in their fields, we particularly encourage submissions from early-career researchers, policy professionals, and writers who represent Global South countries and perspectives.

 

For guidelines on WIDERAngle submissions, please refer to our Guidelines for submissions.

 

Send submission queries to editorialteam@wider.unu.edu.

 

EDITORIAL TEAM

Executive Editor: Annett Victorero

Managing Editor: Timothy Shipp

Assistant Editor: Tristan Reid

 

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Two poems by Neide Sigaúque

by Neide Sigaúque
On 15 May, poet Neide Sigaúque was commissioned to perform two poems on the themes of the WIDER Development Conference The world at crossroads – securing the future generations held in Maputo, Mozambique.One cannot sleep here, let alone dream I am Neide Sigaúque,A womanfrom the southern side of the Third World,Mozambique, 'land of the good people'.I was born in an independent country —independently of my parents' liberation struggle,today dependent on external aid.A country with an economy...

Counting (on) the labour market to secure a just transition

by Haroon Bhorat, François Steenkamp
The climate stabilization imperative emerging from the Paris Agreement is, in so many ways, absolutely critical to securing the planet’s future for all. The Agreement necessitates a transition away from fossil fuel-based economic production, particularly the use of coal as a source of energy. In 2021, coal constituted 36% of global primary energy supply, while accounting for 40.3% of global CO2 emissions.Whilst the use of coal as a primary energy source varies across countries, South Africa is...

Quantifying the economic impact of conflict traps

by Joan Margalef
As we look towards securing a brighter future for coming generations, we must address the complex challenges that threaten sustainable development and global stability. Among these challenges, conflict stands out as a particularly destructive one. In our latest research, we find that a country that falls into conflict is expected to lose 20% of its GDP per capita after 30 years, compared to if it had always been at peace. Even for small countries, this represents a substantial economic loss...

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    Policy Brief
    Man at a supermarket, with a female clerk, Tanzania. Image: Imani Nsamila / UNU-WIDER
    Keys for sustaining Tanzania’s economic development
    Blog
    Can access to finance spur entrepreneurship in Indian informal sector?

    Credit constraints, a consequence of the widespread failure of credit markets in developing countries, are widely regarded as a key constraint to...

    Policy Brief
    Better livelihoods through income diversification in Tanzania
    Blog
    Ghana's lockdown hit vulnerable workers hard: What needs to happen next time

    Coronavirus lockdowns brought the world to a standstill. Rules on hygiene and social distancing have reshaped daily life, schools and businesses had...

    Blog
    Ecuador’s social protection system failed during the pandemic: It needs a rethink

    Household incomes in Ecuador were badly hit by the pandemic, despite the government’s emergency grant to families. H Xavier Jara Tamayo (University of...

    Policy Brief
    Firm performance, trade linkages, and the growth of SMEs in Tanzania
    Blog
    Changing the lives of very young children: Evidence from Rwanda

    Globally, around 250 million children under the age of five do not meet key development milestones, which reduces their ability to reach their full...

    Research Brief
    Are credits or deductions better in public health spending?

    The impact of medical deductions and medical credits on income inequality is a subject of discussion in South Africa, as well as in many other countries, raising critical questions about the fairness of the medical tax system and the impact on...

    Research Brief
    Developing a Malawi–South Africa value chain for industrial hemp

    Diversifying the agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa is important for the combat against poverty and climate change. In Malawi there are plans for legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp, which would at best bring possibilities for...

    Blog
    The end of poverty postponed?: Over a billion people living in poverty and a $500 million per day loss of income for the poorest people in the world could soon be reality

    The COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate headlines as the death toll rises and economies falter. However, far too little attention is being given...

    Research Brief
    Spatial dynamics of firm productivity in South Africa

    The design and implementation of industrial policy should be closely linked to spatial considerations. Firm output and productivity are often location-specific, with factors such as the availability of physical infrastructure, proximity to sources...

    Blog
    Progressive research with amazing people in a beautiful sauna-crazy country: Pui Yi Wong - 2018 PhD Fellow

    In the fall of 2018 UNU-WIDER welcomed 11 doctoral students from around the world as part of our PhD Fellowship Programme. The students, from Ghana...

    Policy Brief
    The business environment of Mozambican manufacturing firms
    Policy Brief
    Workforce and leadership characteristics in Mozambican manufacturing
    Blog
    How are rural households in Viet Nam doing?
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    Viet Nam has seen major economic shifts which started in the 1980s and continue today. Many strides have been made as the country goes through...

    Blog
    Getting a high five - Advancing Africa’s transformative agenda
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    At his swearing in, the new African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina set out an agenda for the economic transformation of the continent...

    Blog
    African Lions - Unpacking labor trends and growth in Mozambique
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    Mozambique, over the last two decades, has experienced explosive growth, with an average GDP growth rate of almost 8 percent between 1997-2015. Not...

    Blog
    Understanding FDI spillover mechanisms
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    Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been praised as an important development tool, especially for countries at low levels of industrial development...

    Blog
    What Mozambique Can Do to Achieve Rapid Economic and Social Progress
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    In the more than two decades since democratic elections signalled a new era in Mozambique, a great deal has been accomplished. Nearly all development...

    Blog
    Researching Inequality – An Interview with James B. Davies
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    ​James B. Davies, Professor of Economics at the University of Western Ontario, played a key role in UNU-WIDER’s pioneering research into global...

    Blog
    Job Creation and the Business Cycle in Brazil
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    What type of business destroys proportionately more jobs during times of economic recessions and hires more in booms? This simple question motivates...

    Policy Brief
    Falling Inequality in Latin America
    Blog
    Learning to Compete: Lessons from Vietnam – An Interview with Carol Newman
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    28 May 2014 In this interview Carol Newman discusses the success of the Vietnamese economic transformation and lessons which can be drawn for Africa...

    Blog
    Open Access and UNU-WIDER
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    21 February 2014 Tony Addison Development researchers live in a world where research on development, not just in economics but also political science...

    Blog
    Report from Gender Equality Results Meeting
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    Roger Williamson The Danish State Secretary for Development Policy Charlotte Slente, welcomed the participants and contributors to the meeting and...

    Blog
    Poverty and Inclusive Growth in the Light of the Quintile Income Statistic
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    9 December 2013 S. Subramanian 1 Introduction It appears that the World Bank is planning to maintain and disseminate systematic information on a...

    Blog
    Household Vulnerability and Resilience to Economic Shocks: Findings from Melanesia
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    9 December 2013 Simon Feeny Vulnerability and resilience are very closely related terms. Vulnerability is usually referred to as the likelihood of...

    Research Brief
    How to Promote Sustainable Jobs in Mozambique

    Strong economic growth has not turned into poverty reduction in Mozambique due to stagnation in job creation. While the country sees great growth potential from natural resources, this industry is unlikely to generate many jobs as it is not labour...

    Policy Brief
    Business and the Barrel of a Gun

    Although the impacts of violent conflict on investment, production, incomes and inequality have been widely studied on an aggregate level, comparatively less is known about the more diverse impacts of such conflict at the micro (particularly firm)...

    Research Brief
    Curbing Early Childhood Undernutrition in Lower and Middle Income Countries

    Under-nutrition is the single biggest cause of the global burden of disease, and many of those affected are children. Early childhood under-nutrition has severe consequences; it accounts for more than 35 per cent of deaths and another 35 per cent of...

    Blog
    What Does it Mean to be in the Middle?: Mobility and Vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean
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    Luis-Felipe Lopez-Calva [1] The concept of social class and specifically middle class, has been widely discussed in sociology and other social...

    Blog
    Microcredit and Poverty Alleviation: Can Microcredit Close the Deal?
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    M.G. Quibria In the wake of the worst famine of Bangladesh of the post-World War era Professor Muhammad Yunus launched a microcredit experiment in...

    Blog
    Measuring Poverty Over Time

    Luc Christiaensen and Lorraine Telfer-Taivainen If a person suddenly becomes poor, for example, due to an unexpected death or illness in the family...

    Research Brief
    Food Aid

    In the 1960s food aid made up nearly 20 per cent of overall overseas development aid, today that figure is five per cent. Increasingly food aid is provided as emergency relief rather than as a form of long term support and many donors have expressed...

    Blog
    Youth Unemployment in the Arab World: What Do We know? What is the Way Forward?
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    Imed Drine Many observers see youth unemployment as the major reason behind the recent popular uprisings in a number of Arab countries. Increasing...

    Blog
    Female Empowerment and Extreme Poverty Reduction: Progressing On One without the Other?
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    Lucy Scott Women are increasingly seen as an important part of the international development agenda. Empowering women and promoting gender equality...

    Research Brief
    Female Empowerment and Extreme Poverty Reduction

    Women are increasingly seen as an important part of the international development agenda. Empowering women and promoting gender equality are enshrined as global development objectives with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed in 2000...

    Blog
    Urbanization and Development: The Big Questions
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    Lorraine Telfer-Taivainen In October the London School of Economics and Political Science hosted the launch of Urbanization and Development...

    Blog
    Understanding Life in Poverty
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    Milla Nyyssölä Behavioural economics, an approach combining the insights of psychology and economics, is coming to the fore in development economics...

    Policy Brief
    Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

    How does innovation impact on development? How, and under what conditions, do entrepreneurs in developing countries innovate? And what can be done to support innovation by entrepreneurs in developing countries? This policy brief addresses these...

    Blog
    A Commentary on Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (ed. Wim Naudé)
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    Robert J. Strom Interest in the study of entrepreneurship has flourished among scholars in recent years. This research has brought to light, among...

    Blog
    The Entrepreneurship-Innovation Nexus in Development

    Wim Naudé and Adam Szirmai Nobody can be left in any doubt as to the importance of innovation for prosperity on reading[i] that ‘People living in the...

    Blog
    Agricultural Policy in Africa: Understanding Decision-Making and Implementation

    Danielle Resnick and Regina Birner In recent years, there has been renewed emphasis on promoting agricultural production and food security in sub...

    Blog
    The Rise of Large Farms: Drivers and Development Outcomes

    Derek Byerlee and Klaus Deininger A recurring debate in the development literature is the relative emphasis to place on the roles of small-scale farms...

    Blog
    Poverty, Entrepreneurship, and Development
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    Ha-Joon Chang Many people believe that the lack of entrepreneurship is one of the main causes of poverty in developing countries. However, anyone who...

    Blog
    China and India’s Development Strategies: Lessons for Developing Countries

    Amelia U. Santos-Paulino and Guanghua Wan China and India have become global economic powers. Even at the market exchange rate, China overtook Japan...

    Blog
    Experimentation and Co-ordination as Industrial Policy: Examples from Ethiopia and Chile

    Mulu Gebreeyesus and Michiko Iizuka Industrial policy can be defined as the policies that stimulate specific economic activities and promote...

    Blog
    Female Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

    Maria Minniti and Wim Naudé In recent years, the rate of new business formation by women has significantly outpaced the rate of new business formation...

    Displaying 48 of 77 results