WIDERAngle

Expert commentary from our network

Research in focus – country profiles: Indonesia and Ecuador

by Tristan Reid
flashcom-indonesia-unsplash
Our Institute’s expansive international research contributions, consisting of over 800 WIDER Working Papers in the 2019–23 work programme, delve deep into the development challenges the world faces. In the following country profiles, we pivot our focus towards Ecuador and Indonesia, serving as examples of our unique collaborative approach to development.Utilizing our vast network of researchers, policymakers, and institutions, we not only assess pressing development issues, but actively work...

Nigeria: botched economic reforms plunge the country into crisis

by Kunal Sen, Chisom Ubabukoh
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is facing an economic crisis. From a botched currency redesign to the removal of fuel subsidies and a currency float, the nation has been plunged into spiralling inflation and a currency crisis with far-reaching consequences. The question now is: how long before the inferno consumes everything?On October 26, 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced a bold move – that it had redesigned the country’s highest denomination notes (₦200, ₦500 and ₦1000) and would...

Are Sovereign Wealth Funds fit for purpose in Africa?

by Tony Addison, Amir Lebdioui
Tanzanian coins. Image: Imani Nsamila / UNU-WIDER
Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) have become a symbol of national success and a means for global, commercial and geopolitical influence. But how well do they contribute to national development goals? Furthermore, global decarbonization threatens the future of many fossil fuel-financed SWFs. Here, we report research evidence to assess the state of SWFs in Africa and how to maximise their impact.Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)are at the core of considerable policy and academic debate. Once heralded as...

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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...

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$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...

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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...

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Global tax reforms, net-zero, and domestic revenue: Food for thought from the DRM programme
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Domestic revenue mobilization (DRM) and taxation have gained prominence lately on the global agenda, most recently with the resolution for the United...

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

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Fintech and domestic savings: A perfect match coming true in sub-Saharan Africa
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Financial technology (FinTech) is a major force disrupting the structure of financial services in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and enabling access of...

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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...

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

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Unlocking the mystery of domestic savings: What difference do they make?

The socioeconomic fallout from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore discussions on domestic resource mobilization (hereafter DRM)...

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Co-creation for fair and efficient taxation: Research recommendations to improve policies

How can we determine the taxation of wage earners or multinational corporations in a fair manner? Will simplifying tax administration help increase...

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What does COVID-19 mean for Africa?: Challenges, but also opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an exceptional social and economic crisis all over the world, with Africa among the hardest-hit regions. What are the...

Research Brief
Monetary policy and firm size in South Africa

Monetary policy affects the real economy through various channels, including the interest rate, exchange rate, credit, and asset price channels. The credit channel has recently received considerable attention. Small firms are more sensitive to...

Research Brief
Estimating tax gaps in the non-financial sector

Many governments, particularly those in developing countries, have set an objective to improve tax revenue mobilization to offer more and better public services to their citizens. To develop effective revenue-raising strategies it is necessary to...

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