Join the network
Vacancies
PhD InternshipOur PhD Internship Programme gives registered doctoral students an opportunity to utilize the resources and facilities at UNU-WIDER for their PhD dissertation or thesis research, and to work with UNU-WIDER researchers in areas of mutual interest...
Vacancies
Visiting ScholarOur Visiting Scholars Programme gives qualified scholars an opportunity to research topics related to development and/or global economic issues, and to participate in UNU-WIDER activities. Deadline for applications is 30 September 23:59 UTC+3.
Journal Special Issue
Macroeconomic Perspectives on AidMuch criticism of aid rests on no evidence at all, on out-of-date studies (many of which are methodologically weak) or on a misunderstanding of causation and country context...
Macroeconomics Foreign aidWorking Paper
New industrial policy and the extractive industriesIndustrial policy is back. Advocates for industrial policy argue that the important question is not whether such policies should be applied at all, but how to design and implement them...
Natural resources extractives industry GovernanceConference
Migration and mobility - new frontiers for research and policyThe WIDER Development Conference on migration and mobility, jointly organized with the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), will take place on 5-6 October 2017 in Accra, Ghana.
Blog
Too late, too little? The IMF and international tax flight
When key decision makers of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gather in Washington DC for the IMF’s annual meeting in October, one thing that would merit more attention is the mismatch between the IMF’s recent alignments against inter...
Internation Monetary Fund OECD tax avoidanceWorking Paper
Comparing estimated and self-reported mark-ups for formal and informal firms in an emerging market contextUsing a 10-year panel survey covering Vietnamese manufacturing firms, we consistently obtain firm-specific mark-up estimates and relate these to firm-level formality...
Firm productivity Formality Viet NamBlog
How to build a data revolution: First steps
This year UNU-WIDER is launching several video series to highlight the wide span of policy-relevant work undertaken by the Institute and its worldwide network...
Data revolution SDGsWorking Paper
Do fences make good neighbours?: Evidence from an insurgency in IndiaIndia has employed a variety of military, political, and economic measures to combat the long running insurgency in Kashmir with little evidence on what contributes to stability in the region...
Conflict Violence GovernanceWorking Paper
Policy diffusion within international organizations: A bottom-up analysis of International Monetary Fund tax work in Panama, Seychelles, and the NetherlandsI analyse the evolution of the International Monetary Fund tax policy advice in three countries commonly used for tax evasion or avoidance: Panama, Seychelles, and the Netherlands...
Internation Monetary Fund OECD tax avoidanceBlog
Mini-documentary: Viet Nam’s data revolution is well on its way The international community rarely calls for a revolution. In this case, it has. A data revolution, says UNU-WIDER Director Finn Tarp. Viet Nam has seen large changes to its economy since the advent of doi moi , the new beginning, in the 1980s...
Structural transformation Sustainable development SDGReport
SOUTHMOD country report Ecuador: ECUAMOD v1.0This report documents ECUAMOD, the SOUTHMOD micrososimulation model developed for Ecuador. This work was carried out by the ISER in collaboration with the Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales and UNU-WIDER...
Tax Government revenue Government spending policyBlog
A letter from Maputo
It’s early July and I’m back in Maputo, Mozambique, looking over the calm sea at the boats that fish the waters for the seafood that makes visiting this part of Africa such a treat...
WIDER Development ConferenceProject
Inclusive growth in Mozambique - scaling-up research and capacityThe central goal of the project is to support inclusive growth, growth that substantially improves the living standards of the Mozambican population. This will be pursued through a focused research and capacity-building effort, meant to increase...
Mozambique Employment generation Industrial policy
Working Paper
Inequality of opportunities among ethnic groups in the PhilippinesThis paper contributes to the scant body of literature on inequalities among and within ethnic groups in the Philippines by examining both the vertical and horizontal measures in terms of opportunities in accessing basic services such as education, e...
Ethnic group Horizontal inequality Indigenous peoplesBlog
Tax, development and the SDGs: How we are supporting the data revolution
At the core of efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals lies a commitment to enhance domestic revenue mobilization. Strengthening capacity to collect tax and other revenue is key for developing countries as they move forward...
Tax Development dataWorking Paper
On the poverty–growth elasticityPoverty–growth elasticities are frequently calculated to provide insight into the inclusiveness of the growth process...
Poverty Growth ElasticityWorking Paper
Is inequality underestimated in Mozambique?: Accounting for underreported consumptionHousehold budget surveys in sub-Saharan Africa are designed to facilitate poverty measurement and may fail to fully capture consumption in wealthy households. As a result, inequality is likely underestimated...
Consumption underreporting Household surveys InequalityProject
WIID - World Income Inequality DatabaseWorld Income Inequality Database (WIID), collects and stores information on income inequality for developed, developing, and transition countries. WIID provides the most comprehensive set of income inequality statistics available and can be...
Blog
Taking steps to overcome inequality in South Africa
Engagement is needed at all levels to address ongoing inequality faced in South Africa. This was the primary aim of a recent policy seminar in Pretoria, organized through the framework of the Mandela Initiative and partners, including UNU-WIDER...
Inequality development policy Structural transformationWorking Paper
Mining’s contribution to low- and middle-income economiesIn several low- and middle-income countries with important extractive sectors, gross national income has developed favourably. Africa has benefitted most, particularly West Africa...
Mining Development Tax revenueWorking Paper
Explaining gender differences in preference for self-employment among tertiary graduates in GhanaWe examine gender differences in ambitions and expectations of jobseekers concerning self-employment, an increasingly proposed option for youth in economies with limited wage employment...
Gender Ghana Graduate employabilityBlog
Building the learning agenda: Spotlight on the Global Learning Laboratory for Quality Universal Health Coverage
Improving the delivery of quality health services is messy! Vast amounts of knowledge and experience is being generated daily...
Health Quality of care SDG3Working Paper
The politics of horizontal inequality: Indigenous opposition to wind farm development in MexicoIn less than a decade, foreign investors have erected more than 3,200 wind turbines across the Isthmus of Techuantepec investing billions of dollars and generating more than 90 per cent of Mexico’s wind energy...
Ethnicity Horizontal inequality Indigenous peoplesBlog
GHAMOD launch and training: A tax-benefit microsimulation model for GhanaBetter social protection coverage and greater benefits in developing countries would certainly be welcomed by many...
Tax-benefit microsimulation GHAMOD SOUTHMODBlog
Quality of routine labor and delivery care in Uttar Pradesh, India: Are private facilities better?
In India, the percentage of women who delivered in a health facility increased from roughly 35% in 2000 to 79% in 2014 ...
Quality of care SDG3 Health-careReport
SOUTHMOD country report Zambia: MicroZAMOD v1.0This report documents MicroZAMOD, the SOUTHMOD model developed for Zambia. This work was carried out by Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis & Research ( ZIPAR ) in collaboration with the project partners. in the scope of the SOUTHMOD project...
Tax Government revenue Government spending policyProject
Extractives for development (E4D)Natural resource wealth has often turned out to be a ‘curse’ rather than a ‘blessing’ for developing countries. Growth based exclusively on natural resources—such as oil, gas, and minerals—is often of a very...
Wealth Natural resources Management
News
Chairperson of the WIDER Board writes on the future role of the World BankRavi Kanbur, Chairperson of the WIDER board and Professor of Economics at Cornell University, argues that the World Bank needs to transform its role on the world stage in a new vox.eu column.
WIDER Board World BankWorking Paper
The donor footprint and gender gapsIn this paper we analyse the impact of foreign aid on gender outcomes and attitudes. We do this by matching geocoded household surveys with aid projects...
Foreign aid Gender Geocoded dataBlog
Measuring outpatient safety at scale: infection prevention and control practices in KenyaPrimum non nocere — first, do no harm. This most basic tenet of medical care is routinely violated in clinics and hospitals around the world today ...
Quality of care Health SDG3Report
SOUTHMOD country report Mozambique: MOZMOD v1.0This report documents MOZMOD, the SOUTHMOD model developed for Mozambique. This work was carried out by the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Mozambique in collaboration with the project partners in the scope of the SOUTHMOD project...
Tax Government revenue Government spending policyWorking Paper
Household bargaining and spending on children: Experimental evidence from TanzaniaThis paper studies whether increasing the wife’s bargaining power results in couples allocating more resources to their child, and, if so, what the underlying mechanisms for this are...
Intra-household allocation Female bargaining power TanzaniaBlog
Cost reductions as a response to the end of the commodity price boom
The recent publication of the 3rd edition of ICMM’s The Role of Mining in National Economies (hereafter RoMiNE3) provides us with the welcome biennial review of the global situation as it affects the large mining and metals industry...
Commodity boom Mining ExtractivesWorking Paper
How status inequality between ethnic groups affects public goods provision: Experimental evidence on caste and tolerance for teacher absenteeism in IndiaThis article contributes to the growing scholarship on how ethnic inequality can dampen the provision of public goods and services. On the one hand, it pushes beyond purely economic inequality to include status inequality between population groups...
Caste Ethnic inequality Public goods provisions