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Introducing Carbon Taxes in South Africa
James Thurlow South Africa is one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. In 2007 it ranked 13th amongst all countries in terms of its overall...
195 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Journal Article
Optimum Reserve Size, Fishing Induced Change in Carrying Capacity, and Phenotypic DiversityFish stocks around the world are heavily overexploited in spite of fishing policies in several parts of the world designed to limit overfishing. Recent studies have found that the complexity of ecological systems and the diversity of species, as well...
Working Paper
Changing Income Inequality and Structural TransformationIn Sub-Saharan Africa we find some of the highest levels of income inequality in the world. Nevertheless, we generally know very little about the historical development of inequality. In this paper we look at how inequality developed in colonial and...
Journal Article
Biofuels and Economic DevelopmentBiofuels could offer new economic opportunities for low-income countries. We use a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model of Tanzania to evaluate different biofuels production options and estimate their impacts on growth and poverty...
Working Paper
A Hybrid Approach to Incorporating Climate Change and Variability into Climate Scenario for Impact AssessmentsTraditional ‘delta-change’ approach of scenario generation for climate change impact assessment to water resources strongly depends on the selected base-case observed historical climate conditions that the climate shocks are to be super-imposed. This...
Research Brief
Burkina Faso – growth without poverty reductionBurkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, poor in natural resources, and with low levels of human development. Its economy remains agricultural and focused on food crops and cotton production. Over the last twenty years it has experienced...
Working 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. For the extractive industries this development poses a challenge...
Journal Article
Measuring the Carbon Intensity of the South African EconomyWe estimate the carbon intensity of industries, products and households in South Africa using data from a high resolution supply-use table. Direct and indirect carbon usage is measured using multiplier methods that capture inter-industry linkages and...
Blog
The Macroeconomic Management of Foreign AidTony Addison, Tseday Mekasha, Milla Nyyssölä, Lucy Scott, Finn Tarp, Tuuli Ylinen To meet development objectives, aid recipients and their donor...
Working Paper
The role of governance and international norms in managing natural resourcesThe governance of natural resource wealth is widely considered to constitute a key determinant in whether the extraction of natural resources proves to be a blessing or a curse. What is meant by governance can span a wide range of components, while...
Working Paper
The Economics Of Complex Humanitarian EmergenciesThis paper, a draft from the early stages of an ongoing UNU/WIDER research project, outlines hypotheses for the economic cause of humanitarian disasters. Complex humanitarian emergencies are considered to be man-made crises, in which large numbers of...
Blog
What role for East African hydrocarbons in the global economy post-Paris COP21?
Over the past decade significant hydrocarbon discoveries have been made across East Africa. Unsurprisingly, the respective governments countries have...
Working Paper
Prospects for Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic in KenyaCapacity planners in developing countries frequently use screening curves and other system-independent metrics such as levelized cost of energy to guide investment decisions. This can lead to spurious conclusions when evaluating intermittent power...
Working Paper
Youth in Tanzania’s Urbanizing Mining SettlementsOver the last fifteen years many African countries have experienced a ‘mining take-off’. Mining activities have bifurcated into two sectors: large-scale, capital-intensive production generating the bulk of the exported minerals, and small-scale...
Book Chapter
Terms of Trade and Growth of Resource EconomiesThe current paper demonstrates a dichotomy of the growth response to changes in the barter terms of trade, employing as case studies the two African countries, Botswana and Nigeria. Using distributed-lag analysis, the paper finds that the effect of...
Journal Article
Does the Political Resource Curse Affect Public Finance? The Vulnerability of Tax Revenue in Resource-Dependent CountriesPart of Journal Special Issue Fiscal Policy, State Building and Economic Development
Working Paper
Humanitarian Emergencies and Warlord Economies in Liberia and Sierra LeoneThis paper explains correlations between humanitarian emergencies and political economies of 'failing states' in Liberia and Sierra Leone. In both, Cold War era rulers acquired personal power through their influence over economic exchange...
Journal Article
Gender Implications of Biofuels Expansion in AfricaWe use a gendered dynamic CGE model to assess the implications of biofuels expansion in a low-income, land-abundant setting. Mozambique is chosen as a representative case. We compare scenarios with different gender employment intensities in producing...
Book Chapter
The copper sector, fiscal rules, and stabilization funds in ChilePart of Book Extractive Industries
Book Chapter
The role of governance and international norms for managing natural resourcesPart of Book Extractive Industries
Book Chapter
Donor-supported approaches to improving extractives governancePart of Book Extractive Industries
Blog
Like it or not, poor countries are increasingly dependent on mining and oil & gasThe UNU-WIDER project on extractives for development seeks to examine how poor and middle-income countries can best use their natural resource wealth...
Blog
Extractive industries and development – taxing profits and investing gains
Industries based on natural resources such as oil, gas, and minerals can play a major positive role in the development of low- and middle-income...
Working Paper
Conflict in AfricaWar provides economic opportunities, such as the capture of valuable natural resources, that are unavailable in peacetime. However, belligerents may prefer low-intensity conflict to total war when the former has a greater pay-off. The paper therefore...
Working Paper
Mining-related national systems of innovation in southern AfricaThis paper explores the linkages between the national systems of innovation of Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and their respective mineral extraction and mineral processing value chains, including input industries. Our analysis reveals...
Working Paper
Social and Economic Decline as Factors in Conflict in the CaucasusWe argue that the conflicts in the Caucasus are the result of the abrogation by the elite of the earlier, Soviet era, social contract. This process was accompanied by the collapse of the formal economy; evidenced by huge national income compression...
Working Paper
TanzaniaThis paper compares and contrasts the economic situation in Tanzania during the resurgence of gold and diamond production after 1999, with the situation that is now emerging as the country begins to exploit very large resources of natural gas mainly...
Working Paper
The history and politics of energy transitionsAccording to some definitions, an energy transition refers to the time that elapses between the introduction of a new primary energy source, or prime mover, and its rise to claiming a substantial share of the overall market. According to one academic...
Working Paper
Resources and the Political Economy of State Fragility in Conflict StatesThis paper studies state failure and governance in two conflict-states in the Middle East: Iraq and Somalia. Iraq is currently undergoing a social experiment under which a new form of government is being constructed after the passage of autocratic...
Displaying 32 of 195 results