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From the Editor’s Desk (September 2012)
Tony Addison Mid-September finds UNU-WIDER very busy preparing for our big conference on climate change and development policy that takes place later...
106 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Blog
From the Editor's desk (November 2011)
Tony Addison As we come to the end of November, the snow has yet to arrive in Helsinki. We continue to enjoy clear skies and spectacular sunsets...
Journal Article
Firm-Level Corruption in VietnamThis article uses panel data from a survey of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam to uncover which firms pay bribes and which do not. We also study how bribe paying evolved between 2005 and 2007 and test how the determinants of bribes...
Working Paper
Social capital, political connections, and household EnterprisesSocial capital and political connections can play an important role in developing countries where markets fail and institutions are weak. This paper explores their role in household micro-enterprise operation and success in the rural low-income...
Working Paper
Poverty Dynamics and Programme Graduation from Social ProtectionSocial protection programmes have emerged as one of the most important anti-poverty policy strategies in developing countries. Their effects on poverty and well-being have been widely studied. Yet, there is limited knowledge on how a transfer...
Book Chapter
Flow of Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries :Part of Book External Finance for Private Sector Development
Blog
Are African Countries Paying Too Much Attention To Agriculture?Luc Christiaensen and Lionel Demery Escalating food prices in 2007-2008, climate change and land grabbing have woken the world up to the extraordinary...
Working Paper
Private Returns to Education for Wage-employees and the Self-employed in UgandaThe paper investigates the differences in private marginal returns to education between wage-employees and the self-employed in Uganda, using the Mincerian framework with pooled regression models. We use a two-wave household panel to estimate...
Working Paper
The impact of aid on total government expendituresAid is said to be fungible at the aggregate level if it raises government expenditures by less than the total amount. This happens when the recipient government decreases domestic revenue, decreases net borrowing, or when aid bypasses the budget...
Journal Article
Evaluating multiple spatial dimensions of economic growth in Brazil using spatial panel data modelsThe goal of this paper is to evaluate the results of regional economic growth model estimations at multiple spatial scales using spatial panel data models. The spatial scales examined are minimum comparable areas, microregions, mesoregions and states...
Book Chapter
Aid EffectivenessControversy over the aggregate impact of foreign aid has focused on reduced form estimates of the aid-growth link. The causal chain, through which aid affects developmental outcomes including growth, has received much less attention. We address this...
Journal Article
Benefits of FormalizationBased on unique panel data consisting of both formal and informal firms, this paper uses a matched double difference approach to examine the relationship between legal status and firm level outcomes in micro, small and medium manufacturing...
Journal Article
Industry Switching in Developing CountriesFirm turnover (i.e., firm entry and exit) is a well-recognized source of sector-level productivity growth. In contrast, the role and importance of firms that switch activities from one sector to another is not well understood. Firm switchers are...
Blog
Measuring Poverty Over TimeLuc Christiaensen and Lorraine Telfer-Taivainen If a person suddenly becomes poor, for example, due to an unexpected death or illness in the family...
Working Paper
Exporting and ProductivityIn this paper, we investigate the relationship between exporting and productivity in the case of Vietnam using an extensive firm level panel dataset for the period 2005-11. We separate out productivity effects of exporting due to self-selection...
Working Paper
Evaluation of Non-Governmental Development OrganizationsRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) are now widely used in development economics. However, their use is often resisted by non-governmental development organizations. The objections they raise differ between the three types of activities of such non...
Journal Article
The (evolving) role of agriculture in poverty reduction—An empirical perspectiveThe role of agriculture in development remains much debated. This paper takes an empirical perspective and focuses on poverty, as opposed to growth alone. The contribution of a sector to poverty reduction is shown to depend on its own growth...
Working Paper
Bilateral Donors' Aid Allocation DecisionsThe present paper adds to the already large existing literature on aid distribution as it runs an equation on bilateral aid allocation on a very rich dataset, covering 20 years (1980-99), 22 donors and 137 recipients, which permits a three...
Working Paper
Food Aid and Informal InsuranceHouseholds in developing countries use a variety of informal mechanisms to cope with risk, including mutual support and risk-sharing. These mechanisms cannot avoid that they remain vulnerable to shocks. Public programs in the form of food aid...
Working Paper
Savings and Financial Sector DevelopmentThe paper uses different measures of financial sector development for a dynamic heterogeneous panel of 17 African countries to examine the impact of financial sector development on private savings. An innovative econometric methodology is also...
Working Paper
The (Evolving) Role of Agriculture in Poverty ReductionThe role of agriculture in development remains much debated. This paper takes an empirical perspective and focuses on poverty, as opposed to growth alone. The contribution of a sector to poverty reduction is shown to depend on its own growth...
Working Paper
Drivers of Poverty Reduction in Lagging RegionsUsing 2000-04 panel data this study analyses the pathways rural households followed out of poverty in two lagging provinces of China, Inner Mongolia and Gansu. Rising labour productivity in agriculture has been key, and still holds much promise...
Working Paper
Firm-Level Corruption in VietnamThis paper uses a unique panel dataset on firm-level corruption. It contains quantitative information on bribe payments by a sample of formal and informal Vietnamese firms. We show that bribe incidence is highly associated with firm-level differences...
Working Paper
Transfers and DevelopmentContrary to the popular notion that money that is easily earned, is also easily spent, economic theory holds that income is fungible. Drawing on the concept of mental accounting, this study theoretically explores when such a link between spending...
Journal Article
Exchange Rates and Competition for FDI in AsiaThis paper argues that relative exchange rates between the host countries of foreign direct investment affect their competition for FDI. Specifically, if the host country currency appreciates against the source country's currency more than that of...
Working Paper
Exchange Rates and Outward Foreign Direct InvestmentThe paper investigates the impact of exchange rates on US foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to a sample of 16 emerging market countries using annual panel data for the period 1990-2002. Three separate exchange rate effects are considered: the...
Working Paper
Determinants of corporate cash holdings in South AfricaGlobally, corporate cash holdings have risen since the 1980s. In South Africa, some commentators have accused corporations of engaging in an ‘investment strike’, while others see corporate liquidity as a precaution against systemic uncertainty. We...
Working Paper
Economics and Politics of Official Loans versus GrantsThe paper examines a wide range of issues relating to the mix between loans and grants as well as the degree of concessionality of loans. A number of empirical tests are carried out based on annual panel data over 1970 to 1999 for 22 donor countries...
Working Paper
Aid Effort and its DeterminantsThe paper empirically explores the factors that could have accounted for the generally declining aid effort (defined as the generosity ratio, or the share of GDP given as aid) of bilateral donors over the last three decades. Annual panel data over...
Journal Article
Income, Mortality, and Literacy Distribution Dynamics Across States in MexicoPart of Journal Special Issue Symposium on Spatial Inequality in Latin America
Journal Article
Estimando la Demanda Residencial por Electricidad en ChilePart of Journal Special Issue Symposium on Spatial Inequality in Latin America
Displaying 32 of 106 results