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Foreign aid can help stem the decline of democracy, if used in the right wayDemocracy is having a hard time. In India, once the world’s largest democracy, the pandemic has hastened the country’s slide toward authoritarianism ...
Foreign aid Development aid Aid effectivenessReport
How COVID-19 is affecting workers and their livelihoods in urban Ghana: Results from the GSPS-COVID panel surveyThis survey is a collaborative project conducted by researchers of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghan...
COVID-19 Survey data Employment
Learning
Online PhD Fellowship – an opportunity to further your thesis with an international research instituteIn 2021 the UNU-WIDER Visiting PhD Fellowship Programme will be delivered online. The programme gives registered doctoral students the opportunity to utilize the resources and knowledge available within UNU-WIDER to support their PhD dissertation or...
Working Paper
The gendered crisis: livelihoods and mental well-being in India during COVID-19This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the gendered dimensions of employment and mental health among urban informal-sector workers in India...
COVID-19 Informal sector EmploymentWorking Paper
Analysis of the distributional effects of COVID-19 and state-led remedial measures in South AfricaThis paper explores the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa on income poverty and inequality in South Africa...
Social protection Tax-benefit microsimulation Income distributionBlog
A world of protest
That we are living in an era of popular protest is undeniable. A quick survey of headlines from around the world — or better yet, your social media feed — reveals countless uprisings unfolding in real time...
Social conflict Good governance Social movementBlog
Is sexual violence a driver of the early marriage of girls in India?
Marriage at a younger age, generally before the legal age of marriage, is a pervasive practice in many parts of the world...
Child Marriage Women's empowerment CrimeBlog
Why do we see boom-and-bust growth in fragile and conflict-affected states?
One of the most pressing challenges in development policy is to bring about rapid, sustained, and inclusive growth in developing countries...
Fragile states Conflict Economic growthWorking Paper
The livelihood impacts of COVID-19 in urban South Africa: A view from belowThis paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related policy measures on livelihoods in urban South Africa...
COVID-19 Welfare dynamics LockdownWorking Paper
Do pandemics lead to rebellion? Policy responses to COVID-19, inequality, and protests in the USAThis paper analyses how inequality across counties in the United States of America has shaped the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of protests...
COVID-19 Lockdown protestWorking Paper
Towards sustainable livelihood in the Tanzanian informal economy: Facilitating inclusion, organization, and rights for street vendorsIn spite of having some intensive national strategies to address poverty, Tanzania lacks a coherent national strategy to ensure sustainable livelihoods for those working in its informal economy, of which street vending is an important sector...
Tanzania Livelihoods Informal sectorArticle
UNU-WIDER ongoing work on the effect of COVID-19 on the economies, states, and societies of the Global SouthIt is clear that COVID-19 will have serious implications for economies, states, and societies of the Global South. At UNU-WIDER we are reorienting our work to think through what those implications are and possible mitigation and adaptation measures...
COVID-19
Blog
Ecuador’s social protection system failed during the pandemic: It needs a rethinkHousehold incomes in Ecuador were badly hit by the pandemic, despite the government’s emergency grant to families...
COVID-19 Microsimulation PovertyBlog
Persistent gender roles in South Africa deprive women of leisure time
In most countries, traditional gender roles within the household are still common due to the prevalence and persistence of patriarchal systems...
South Africa Women's empowerment Women's labour force participationBlog
Supply or demand? Exploring the mechanisms behind the rise of female labour force participation in MexicoAt the global level, gender gaps in labour force participation have narrowed and over half a billion women have joined the workforce in the last 30 years...
Women's work Female labour force participation EconomicsBlog
The paths and legacies of civil war
Civil wars leave enduring legacies for social networks , political identities , preferences , and attitudes ...
Civil conflict Peacebuilding InstitutionsDatabase
ETD – Economic Transformation DatabaseOpen and free to use, the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database (ETD) provides comprehensive, long-term, and internationally comparable sectoral data on employment and productivity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The ETD covers:...
Economic transformation Employment Productivity
Blog
Our project on the institutional legacies of violent conflict
One of the most critical challenges in international development today is to understand how best to support peace, security, economic recovery, and legitimate political authority in fragile and conflict-affected countries...
Institutions Conflict Post-conflictBlog
A ‘data revolution’ for sustainable development leaves gaps on inequality
Among the many things said about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the description by the President of the UN General Assembly’s 70 th session, Mogens Lykketoft, that the SDGs represented ‘an unprecedented statistical challenge&...
Inequality Quantitative research methodology Qualitative research methodologyConference
COVID-19 and development - effects and new realities for the Global South
Request for research proposals
Detecting and countering illicit financial flowsUnited Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) together with Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen invite proposals for papers examining the challenge of illicit financial flows. The...
Vacancies
Web DeveloperUNU-WIDER is looking for an outstanding individual with strong web and systems development skills to join the institute’s ICT Team.
Blog
The developer’s dilemma in India – the role of politics and economic ideologyPolicy makers seeking inclusive growth frequently face the developer’s dilemma between prioritizing structural transformation, which is potentially inequitable, and keeping a check on rising economic inequality...
Structural transformation Economic inequality Economic developmentWorking Paper
Ban on female migrant workers: Skills-differentiated evidence from Sri LankaThis study examines the skills-differentiated impact of a restrictive female labour migration policy in Sri Lanka using monthly departure data from 2012 to 2018 in a difference-in-difference model...
Labour migration Employment WomenBlog
Using tax data to inform economic policy in South AfricaCountries need data and evidence to create, amend, and evaluate policy. Indeed, one of the key mandates of policy makers in South Africa is to make evidence-based policy decisions which improve the policy landscape of the country...
News
Call for participation: Life with Corona survey round 2Life with Corona, a global survey tracking the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 around the world has just been released with updated questions.
COVID-19 Trust Pandemic