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26 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Working Paper
Welfare and the depth of informality: Evidence from five African countriesThis study explores the relationship between household poverty and depth of informality by proposing a new measure of informality at the household level...
Informality Measurement PovertyTechnical Note
The Economic Transformation Database (ETD): content, sources, and methodsThis note introduces the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database (ETD), which provides time series of employment and real and nominal value added by 12 sectors in 51 countries for the period 1990–2018...
Database Employment value addedWorking Paper
Does connectivity reduce gender gaps in off-farm employment?: Evidence from 12 low- and middle-income countriesGender gaps in labour force participation in developing countries persist despite income growth or structural change. We assess this persistence across economic geographies within countries, focusing on youth employment in off-farm wage jobs...
Gender gap Youth EmploymentJournal Article
COVID-19 and employment: Insights from the sub-Saharan Africa experienceThe COVID-19 pandemic poses risks not only for people’s health but also economic wellbeing. While the full socio-economic consequences remain uncertain, its impact on the labour market has become a key issue of global concern...
COVID-19 Employment Informal poorBackground Note
COVID-19 and employment: Insights from the sub-Saharan African experienceIntroduction The COVID-19 pandemic poses important risks for people’s health and economic wellbeing...
COVID-19 Employment Informal poorSeminar
Africa’s lockdown dilemma — high poverty and low trustOn 16 July 2020, two researchers of the Inclusive growth in Mozambique programme, Ivan Manhique and Ricardo Santos, will present their current research.
Blog
Beyond lockdown: rebuilding the social contractContinued lockdown measures are straining the social contract between citizens and governments...
Social unrest Lockdown Sub-Saharan AfricaWorking Paper
Unequal expectations: Gender inequality in salary expectations of university studentsStudents’ expectations about their future wages are established in the literature as relevant determinants of the choices made for education progression and, at the university level, for the area and course to be studied...
Inequality Inequality decomposition StratificationWorking Paper
Africa’s lockdown dilemma: High poverty and low trustThe primary policy response to suppress the spread of COVID-19 in high-income countries has been to lock down large sections of the population...
COVID-19 Lockdown PovertyBook Chapter
Development and poverty in sub-Saharan AfricaWhen it comes to reporting on Africa, the international news media has, over time, delivered very mixed messages. Yet there are still many who characterize sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as a region of hunger, economic crisis, and political unrest...
Sub-Saharan Africa Economic development TransformationWorking Paper
Structural transformation, openness, and productivity growth in sub-Saharan AfricaThis paper examines the connections of structural change and economic openness to labour productivity growth using a panel data set of 41 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period 1991–2015...
Sub-Saharan Africa Structural transformation Labour productivityWorking Paper
Informal work in sub-Saharan Africa: Dead end or steppingstone?Despite rapid economic growth in recent decades, informality remains a persistent phenomenon in the labour markets of many low- and middle-income countries...
Informality Labour market dynamics Sub-Saharan AfricaWorking Paper
Structural poverty dynamics in urban South Africa: A mixed-methods investigationThis paper examines the extent and determinants of structural poverty dynamics in South Africa, focusing on the socio-economically disadvantaged urban African population...
Poverty Social mobility LivelihoodsBook Chapter
The negotiated politics of social protection in East and Southern AfricaFrom the book: The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa
Social assistance Politics Sub-Saharan AfricaWorking Paper
Competitiveness and diversification of service exports in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of the East African CommunityGrowth in service exports has improved countries’ per capita incomes, reduced over-reliance on goods exports, and promoted economic diversification. However, the growth has not been uniform across regions and countries...
Service exports Competitiveness DiversificationSeminar
Jakob Svensson on the low quality trap: evidence from the market for maize in UgandaJakob Svensson will present at the WIDER Seminar Series on 16 October 2019. Abstract - The low quality trap: evidence from the market for maize in Uganda Agriculture remains the main source of income for the large majority of the world’s poor...