WIDERAngle

Expert commentary from our network

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the world’s biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third term in office. And the polls suggest it will achieve this objective.If one was to go by economic growth figures alone, the Modi government’s performance has been impressive. When Modi came to power in 2014, economic growth was sluggish. A series of high-profile corruption...

Affirmative action in Brazil’s higher education system

by Rodrigo Oliveira, Edson Severnini, Alei Santos
Evidence from Brazil shows how affirmative action students in the higher education system adjust their behaviour to catch up with initially higher-performing privileged students.Affirmative action (AA) policies, aiming to address historical inequalities and promote social justice, have sparked debates across the world. Brazil, in particular, grapples with the challenges and complexities of AA, notably through Law 12,711/2012, which introduced the quota policy mandating all federal universities...

Decoding development – insights from UNU-WIDER's synthesis process and beyond

loren-joseph-unsplash
At UNU-WIDER, we undertake our work explicitly within the context of an emergent strategy designed to maximize the impact of our research findings. We operate based on a theory of change that outlines how research eventually translates into improved development outcomes for the world’s most vulnerable populations.In 2023, we published the report Towards peace, decent work, and greater equality to guide policy efforts to achieve the United Nations Agenda 2030. This report synthesizes the key...

150 Blogpost

Blog
Time to rethink theory on the role of finance in development: The new structural financial economics framework

The primary role of finance is to serve the ‘real economy’¬—the part of the economy that produces goods and services. Yet in practice, the financial...

Blog
Are Sovereign Wealth Funds fit for purpose in Africa?

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) have become a symbol of national success and a means for global, commercial and geopolitical influence. But how well do...

Blog
How climate change increases vulnerability to human trafficking in the Philippines
Placeholder

As COP28 unfolds, I share new findings on the impact of climate change on human rights violations and, more specifically, on human trafficking as...

Blog
Sustainable Cities Discussion Forum: Cities have important role in mitigating climate threats
Placeholder

'Our window to avoid climate catastrophe is closing rapidly, and yet there are still many reasons for optimism.' This statement sums up a recent third...

Blog
$1 trillion in the shade: The annual profits multinational corporations shift to tax havens continues to climb and climb

About a decade ago, the world’s biggest economies agreed to crack down on multinational corporations’ abusive use of tax havens. This resulted in a 15...

Blog
From Monterrey to Addis Ababa, and what has happened since?
Placeholder

The importance of domestic revenue mobilization and taxation for sustainable development is widely acknowledged in global development discussions, but...

Blog
Global tax reforms, net-zero, and domestic revenue: Food for thought from the DRM programme
Placeholder

Domestic revenue mobilization (DRM) and taxation have gained prominence lately on the global agenda, most recently with the resolution for the United...

Blog
Empirical research is crucial for better tax enforcement in the developing world
Placeholder

I had the privilege to participate in the UNU-WIDER Winter School as one of the lecturers. In this blog, I explain my main takeaways for students and...

Blog
Fintech and domestic savings: A perfect match coming true in sub-Saharan Africa
Placeholder

Financial technology (FinTech) is a major force disrupting the structure of financial services in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and enabling access of...

Blog
Sales recovered faster from the pandemic than employment: Evidence from tax administrative and survey data in Zambia

Like most other countries, the government of Zambia introduced restrictions to control COVID-19, which considerably curtailed normal economic activity...

Blog
Putting it all together: Highlights from The puzzle of peace
Placeholder

‘Understanding how to sustain peace means understanding conflict itself. Yet conflict and peacebuilding are often addressed separately’ – Patricia...

Blog
From offshore oil to offshore finance: How tax havens facilitate corruption in the extractive industries

In many countries, news of an oil discovery or the award of an exploration license is rarely greeted with enthusiasm by the general public. Any hopes...

Blog
Virtuous circles and downward spirals: The power of ideas & the limits of technocracy
Placeholder

What will it take to shake loose the distemper of our times, and initiate a virtuous spiral of renewal? In a recent UNU-WIDER webinar, Alan Hirsch and...

Blog
From summits to solutions: what success means at COP26
Placeholder

At the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, world leaders discussed the need to scale-up ambition to address key global challenges...

Blog
Reducing wasted gas emissions is an opportunity for clean air and climate

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) is seen as the last best chance for countries and companies to set out how they are actually...

Blog
Looking ahead to COP26
Placeholder

The long-awaited COP26 in Glasgow is about to start. Billed as the most important COP to date, it is widely seen as a last chance to avoid a global...

Displaying 16 of 150 results