WIDERAngle

Expert commentary from our network

About

The WIDERAngle publishes expert commentary and analysis of the latest research in global development. The WIDERAngle supports UNU-WIDER’s missions to undertake research and policy analysis on the most pressing concerns affecting humanity and provides a forum for knowledge sharing, discussion, and debate.

 

To see past newsletters, visit our WIDERAngle archive.

 

Write for the WIDERAngle

We accept submissions that represent sincere efforts to advance knowledge on topics related to the promotion of sustainable and equitable development for all. Although many of our writers are established in their fields, we particularly encourage submissions from early-career researchers, policy professionals, and writers who represent Global South countries and perspectives.

 

For guidelines on WIDERAngle submissions, please refer to our Guidelines for submissions.

 

Send submission queries to editorialteam@wider.unu.edu.

 

EDITORIAL TEAM

Executive Editor: Annett Victorero

Managing Editor: Timothy Shipp

Assistant Editor: Tristan Reid

 

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Securing a future for the next generations – navigating today’s global challenges

by Frederik Matthys
In an era frequently described as ‘unprecedented’, the global landscape often seems daunting. Countries classified as democracies are increasingly outnumbered by those classified as autocracies, interstate conflicts have escalated, and the multifaceted impacts of climate change—from health crises to forced displacement—continue to intensify. Meanwhile, gender inequality persists, progress in poverty and inequality reduction has stalled, or even reversed in some contexts, and multilateral co...

Quantifying the economic impact of conflict traps

by Joan Margalef
As we look towards securing a brighter future for coming generations, we must address the complex challenges that threaten sustainable development and global stability. Among these challenges, conflict stands out as a particularly destructive one. In our latest research, we find that a country that falls into conflict is expected to lose 20% of its GDP per capita after 30 years, compared to if it had always been at peace. Even for small countries, this represents a substantial economic loss...

What are foresight methods and how can they secure our common futures?

by Aicha Robei
Future tools and foresight thinking are crucial instruments to improve decision-making for a common future. As a Youth Foresight Fellow with UNICEF, I firmly believe that utilizing foresight, a sophisticated approach for anticipation and strategic planning, is essential in tackling and lessening the impacts of climate change, conflict, and inequality.Foresight allows us to think about the speculated future based on models and data to solve problems and chart a path to a prosperous and nurturing...

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    Blog
    Affirmative action in Brazil’s higher education system

    Evidence from Brazil shows how affirmative action students in the higher education system adjust their behaviour to catch up with initially higher...

    Policy Brief
    How to create decent work for women

    Despite advancements for gender equality in some spheres, labour market outcomes for women continue to be worse than for men. Gender gaps in pay, labour force participation rates, and measures of job quality are stubbornly persistent and continue to...

    Blog
    Affirmative action policies to increase diversity are successful, but controversial, around the world

    In a landmark judgment in June 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled against the use of race-conscious admissions in colleges and universities. This...

    Blog
    Taking localisation beyond labels and lip service

    Donors increasingly speak of locally led aid response, but often do not walk the walk. Case in point is the United States Agency for International...

    Blog
    Gender pay gaps on the rise in South Africa

    New analysis of income data in South Africa shows the gender pay gap—how much more men earn than women—has increased. According to findings from a...

    Blog
    Development aid cuts will hit fragile countries hard, could fuel violent conflict

    Fragile and least developed countries have had their development assistance cut drastically, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation...

    Policy Brief
    Tasks, skills, and institutions

    Concerns about widening income inequality within countries continue to gain prominence in public debate worldwide. In the last decade, attention to the concentration of income at the very top of the distribution (top 1%) has increased. This...

    Blog
    On the road to fairer societies in Asia and the Pacific region: Four focus areas on center stage

    A recent panel discussion at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok set out to identify policy...

    Blog
    Will growth be enough to end poverty?: New Projections of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

    Today, October 17th is the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (you already knew that, right?). In new analysis for UNU-WIDER, we...

    Blog
    Oslo conference turns the spotlight on sustainable development financing
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    With the deadline for achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals just seven years away, there is an increasing sense of urgency over the...

    Blog
    Why the Aid Effectiveness Principles are important for development

    Demonstrating empirically the Aid Effectiveness Principles' global impact on development is a challenge. But according to Rachel M. Gisselquist...

    Blog
    SOUTHMOD family extended: Welcome to the three new Latin American teams

    How would progressive income taxation affect income inequality in Bolivia? What are the costs and benefits of implementing a state pension in Colombia...

    Blog
    91% of sub-Saharan African workers don’t save for old age: Why that’s a problem and how to fix it
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    Less than 10% of the workers in sub-Saharan Africa save for old age, the lowest rate for any region in the world. That implies most of the...

    Research Brief
    Perceptions of inequality among young adults in Mozambique
    Blog
    The Great Gatsby Curve and the Global South: Time for a more ambitious redistribution and reparations agenda

    The famous 1920s book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the classic analogy for the American dream of meritocracy —that any person can...

    Blog
    The richer your neighbours, the more you borrow – the case of South Africa
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    Research on how income inequality affects borrowing behaviour reignited after the 2008 global recession. One prevailing theory is that rising income...

    Blog
    Four global problems that will be aggravated by the UK’s recent cuts to international aid

    UK economic forecasts have improved markedly since the September 2022 mini-budget. The economic recession may now be more shallow and public borrowing...

    Blog
    Is a strong middle class the secret to high levels of human development?

    Many countries today experience increasing or persistent income inequality, a major concern for citizens and politicians alike. This concern is...

    Blog
    From Monterrey to Addis Ababa, and what has happened since?
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    The importance of domestic revenue mobilization and taxation for sustainable development is widely acknowledged in global development discussions, but...

    Blog
    Social mobility among disadvantaged groups in India

    In recent decades, India has experienced rapid economic growth alongside radical affirmative action programs enacted since independence. This column...

    Blog
    New global estimates on profits in tax havens suggest the tax loss continues to rise

    The world has been trying to curb profit shifting to tax havens for a decade, but consistent time series evaluating the impact of these reforms have...

    Blog
    What is next for development effectiveness in a post-aid world?
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    Improving the effectiveness of global development spending may seem like a fool's errand given the state of the world today. Yet this is precisely the...

    Blog
    New country on the SOUTHMOD map: Meet our tax-benefit microsimulation team in Rwanda!
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    How can Global South countries improve their tax and social protection systems? One way is to take advantage of tools that help assess the impact of...

    Policy Brief
    Building evidence around the effectiveness principles

    This policy brief draws on the studies presented at the International Research Conference on the Effectiveness of Development Cooperation on 17–18 November 2022, in Brussels, Belgium and jointly organized by UNU-WIDER and the European Commission (DG...

    Blog
    The inheritance of human capital: Rethinking how much parents’ influence children’s human capital in low- and middle-income countries
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    The measure of human capital —the economic value of one’s skills and experience— acknowledges that investments in people’s cognitive and emotional...

    Blog
    Reducing inequality — the great challenge of our time
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    Early in October 2022, international and Colombian researchers gathered together for three days at the UNIANDES campus, located at the foot of the...

    Blog
    Report from the WIDER Development Conference on reducing inequality
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    For several decades, UNU-WIDER has actively worked on pathfinding and groundbreaking research on inequalities. We host one of the most extensive...

    Blog
    Urban poverty: cities, slums, and the need for policy action

    Developing countries will be predominantly urban by 2030. While urbanization is historically associated with development and broad-based social...

    Policy Brief
    Inequality is not an inevitable consequence of economic development
    Blog
    Want to catch up on UNU-WIDER research? Here are 10 of the most interesting papers published over the last year
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    In this blog, the managing editor of the WIDERAngle shares his personal view on some of the most important —and potentially overlooked— work recently...

    Blog
    Putting it all together: Highlights from The puzzle of peace
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    ‘Understanding how to sustain peace means understanding conflict itself. Yet conflict and peacebuilding are often addressed separately’ – Patricia...

    Blog
    Solving the puzzle of peace: Overcoming the curse of Finland
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    At The puzzle of peace conference in Helsinki, Adnan Khan, Chief Economist at the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, lamented what he...

    Displaying 32 of 396 results