51 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Working Paper
Trust in institutions and the profile of inequality: A worldwide perspectiveThis paper investigates the importance of accounting for the profile of inequality in the analysis of institutional trust...
Trust Institutions InequalityWorking Paper
The state and the ‘legalization’ of illicit financial flows: Trading gold in BoliviaMost research on illicit financial flows (IFFs) has focused on illicit outflows from developing countries and the role of non-state actors in generating IFFs...
Illicit financial flows Political settlements GoldWorking Paper
Inequality and human development: The role of different parts of the income distributionIn this paper we reassess the relationship between inequality and human development, focusing on the differential effect associated with the concentration of national income at different parts of the income distribution...
Human development Inequality InstitutionsWorking Paper
Can domestic institutions affect exports and innovation?: Mediation effects of institutional quality on manufacturing sector exports and innovation in developing countriesStudies show that when exports go up, innovation goes up as well. But what is the mediating effect of domestic institutions in the association between exports and innovation?...
Innovation Mediation analysis InstitutionsLecture
Kunal Sen on institutions and developmentUNU-WIDER Director Kunal Sen gives a lecture to the staff of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis ( KIPPRA ). The topic of the lecture is Institutions and development. In his presentation Kunal Sen will discuss the role of...
Working Paper
Corruption and crisis: do institutions matter?While the short-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on lives and livelihoods are well understood, we know little about the effect of the pandemic for longer-term outcomes such as corruption...
Corruption Institutions CrisisWorking Paper
Constraints on the executive and tax revenues in the long runWe argue that tax revenues and political institutions placing constraints on the executive power may reinforce each other over time and so co-evolve in the long run...
Constraints on the executive Tax revenue InstitutionsWorking Paper
Community organization and armed group behaviour: Evidence from ColombiaThis paper investigates how armed groups affect the organization of local communities during armed conflict in Colombia...
Armed conflict Institutions ColombiaSeminar

Journal Article
The political economy of the resource curse: A development perspectiveThis article reviews the recent literature on the developmental effects of resource abundance, assessing likely effects and channels with respect to key development outcomes...
Resource abundance Inequality InstitutionsWorking Paper
What are the drivers of tax capacity in sub-Saharan Africa?There is limited research on the underlying institutional framework of tax policy and capacity: how tax collection efficiency changes over time and the importance of institutional factors in this process...
Fiscal capacity General-to-specific Tax policyWorking Paper
The relative neglect of agriculture in MozambiqueThis paper explores agricultural performance of Mozambique, its institutional weaknesses, and the underlying factors that underpin an unsatisfactory performance during many decades...
Agriculture Environment InstitutionsWorking Paper
Good institutions and tax revenue outcomes in resource-rich countries: When ‘good’ is not enoughDeveloping countries that experience commodity booms struggle to mobilize sustainable tax revenues...
resource rent Tax revenue InstitutionsBackground Note
Review of sub-national institutional performance in GhanaIntroduction The literature on the concept, measurement, causes, and correlates of sub-national institutional governance is not new. From the seminal work of Putnam et al. (1993) to recent attempts by Iddawela et al...
Decentralized governance Decentralization GovernanceBlog
The paths and legacies of civil war
Civil wars leave enduring legacies for social networks , political identities , preferences , and attitudes ...
Civil conflict Peacebuilding InstitutionsBlog
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-conflict