
27 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Working Paper
Risk-Sharing and Endogenous Network FormationIn economic literature insurance networks are often treated as exogenous institutions. Frequently, the assumption is made that some clearly identifiable group (e.g. ‘the whole village’ or ‘the extended family’) constitutes an insurance network. Still...
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
Social capital and household vulnerabilityUsing the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) with a panel of households present from 2008 to 2016, the study investigates the impact of social capital on household vulnerability. The empirical results indicate that both commune...
Working Paper
Context and Policies for the Transformation and Growth of SMEsThis paper analyses the Hungarian experience with SMEs development by highlighting the factors and policies that explain the sector features and dynamics and utilizes this experience to suggest an interpretation of the striking differences with...
Working Paper
Individual Motivation, Its Nature, Determinants and Consequences for within group BehaviourThe paper deals with evaluating the adequacy of the assumption that in economic transactions people are self-interested insofar as they are motivated solely by the concern of maximizing their own utility, and in particular with assessing how this...
Working Paper
Rebuilding Rural Livelihoods and Social CapitalMozambique has now enjoyed eight years of peace after a 16-year war that massively damaged the economy, caused over a million deaths, and displaced more than 3 million people. This paper aims to improve our understanding of how rural societies...
Working Paper
Economics Theories of the HouseholdThe aim of this paper is to review the principal assumptions and aspects of the unitary household model and collective models of household behaviour. Empirical studies are presented to assess whether the theories can offer adequate descriptions of...
Working Paper
Riots and social capital in urban IndiaThis paper explores the relationship between household exposure to riots and social capital in urban India using a panel dataset collected by the authors in the state of Maharashtra. The analysis applies a random-effect model with lagged covariates...
Working Paper
The social consequences of organized crime in ItalyOrganized crime affects security, development, and democracy worldwide, but not much is known about its social consequences. We study how exposure to the presence of organized crime groups shapes the social capital of Italian citizens, including...
Working Paper
Clans, Cliques, and Captured StatesInformal systems of relationships may be the most appropriate unit of analysis for understanding the patterns of development of many aspects of corruption, organized crime, markets, and the state. The lack of attention to informal systems can produce...
Working Paper
Aid EffectivenessWe examine the impact of institutional quality and social capital on aid effectiveness. We find strong evidence that social capital and institutions enhance aid effectiveness. Moreover, once we account for the role of social capital and institutions...
Working Paper
Is a Friend in Need a Friend Indeed?Mutual insurance has been shown, theoretically and empirically, to be incomplete and limited by asymmetric information and lack of enforcement mechanisms. While some research has shown that networks based on kinship, neighbourhood and ethnicity may...
Book
Resource Abundance and Economic DevelopmentSince the 1960s the per capita incomes of the resource-poor countries have grown significantly faster than those of the resource-abundant countries. In fact, in recent years economic growth has been inversely proportional to the share of natural...
Book
Resource Abundance and Economic DevelopmentSince the 1960s the per capita incomes of the resource-poor countries have grown significantly faster than those of the resource-abundant countries. In fact, in recent years economic growth has been inversely proportional to the share of natural...