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Publications (20)
Research Brief
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Social insurance has not succeeded in reducing fiscal deficits and expanding coverage to more beneficiaries in Latin America Social assistance has had a greater impact on poverty and inequality than social insurance In lower-middle-income countries, social assistance programmes have not expanded as...
Research Brief
During the 1990s, inequality in Ecuador increased because of a natural disaster and deep economic and financial crisis, as well as the impact of liberalization of the trade and financial sectors on labour markets Falling income equality in Ecuador during the 2000s partly coincides with the rise to...
Research Brief
– An Empirical Analysis
Left-of-centre governments emphasized fiscally-prudent but more equitable macroeconomic, tax, social expenditure and labour policies A drop in the premium paid to skilled workers following a rapid expansion of secondary education decreased wage inequality Addressing continued inequality In recent...
Research Brief
Integration of Latin America into the international economy over the past quarter century has led to faster export growth, but not to faster GDP or productivity growth Contrary to mainstream analysis, under the current market reforms countries have underperformed as compared to the prior period of...
Research Brief
After tax reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, income inequality increased in many Latin American countries The tax reforms of the 2000s have been more equalizing in terms of income inequality: Argentina, Honduras and Nicaragua have seen the most redistribution of income Taxation remains unequalizing in...
Research Brief
In addition to large class sizes, peer effects, such as overage-for-grade and late-starting pupils, are challenges for the successful development of education sectors in East Africa; there is a comparative lack of research on the impact of peer effects. Household surveys provide good data with which...
Research Brief
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Each dollar of aid per year provides 0.17 people with access to water or sanitation. This amounts to a cost of US$5.88 per person. Due to economies of scale, countries with large populations benefit more from aid to the water and sanitation sectors. Institutional reforms that facilitate the...
Position Paper
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This position paper on Aid and the Social Sectors was prepared by UNU-WIDER under the ReCom programme of Research (Re) and Communication (Com) on foreign aid. It aims to provide a coherent up-todate overview and analysis of an extraordinarily important issue in the development field: The contribution of foreign aid to human development.Social sector policy and the services that they provide are recognised for their intrinsic values and instrumental qualities for the functioning of individuals in particular, and the development strategies of countries more general. There is overwhelming...
Research Brief
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While the majority of interventions against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria had positive short-term effects, these were frequently not translated into long-term sustainable results. Cash transfers may have the potential of reducing HIV transmissions but the effect is so far insignificant...
Research Brief
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Microfinance evaluations reveal a positive impact on per capita income, non-land asset value and poverty incidence. Across countries and methodologies, microfinance is most likely to have a short-term positive effect; regionally, the most positive impacts are seen in Africa. Women tend to benefit...
Research Brief
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The most successful projects and programmes are those that give local partners real ownership over the development process. Aid to health is not always allocated to the areas where it is most needed. Aid fragmentation creates extra costs for recipient countries and reduces the effectiveness of...
Research Brief
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Lessons of what works in foreign aid to education are often known but not implemented. Developing the technical capacity of those involved in education is a crucial part of improving educational quality. Many of the problems related to capacity development in the education sector are the result of...
Research Brief
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– Ways to Attain MDG4 and MDG5
Progress towards the achievement of MDG4 and MDG5 has been impressive with both maternal and child mortality being reduced by over 40 per cent since 1990. However, achieving the goal of a reduction of two-thirds by 2015 will not be easy. The Paris Declaration principles of ownership, alignment, and...
Research Brief
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– Crucial for the Spread of Social Protection Programmes
Evaluations of social protection programmes have been much more comprehensive in Latin America than in sub-Saharan Africa. Monitoring and evaluation protocols are crucial to facilitate improvements in government effectiveness. Anti-poverty transfer schemes seem to be subjected to more evaluation...
Research Brief
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An increase of education aid by one per cent increases the rate of primary education enrolment by 0.06 percentage points. The most robust effect on primary enrolment is obtained by aid to the category ‘education facilities and training’. High levels of education aid in the last decades concentrating...
Research Brief
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Most studies show that education aid has a modest but positive effect on enrolment levels. Less is known about the effect of aid on the quality of education. The effectiveness of education aid is to a large degree dependent on the stability of the institutions in the recipient country. Institutional...
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