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Publications (52)
Policy Brief
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Poor governance and lack of state capabilities in around 45 countries pose a threat to global security and development. The involvement of the international community is required to help these states break out of their low-development–high-conflict traps. Recent years have seen a number of notable...
– Fragility and External Shocks
Small island developing states (SIDS) are characterised by high economic, geographical and social vulnerability. These states are perceived as economically vulnerable, exhibiting poor economic performance, and embedding low levels of achieved well-being on most criteria. SIDS, which occupy very...
– Causes, Costs, and Responses
Overcoming state fragility is one of the most important international development objectives of the 21st century. Many fragile states have turned into failed states, where millions of people are caught in deprivation and seemingly hopeless conditions. Fragile states lack the authority, legitimacy...
In recent years there is a growing concern within the international donor community regarding the plight of a special group of countries labeled as 'Fragile States'. These states, which according to current donor lists currently numbers more than 40 countries, are diverse in many respects. But...
Journal Article
This peer-reviewed research is available free of charge. UNU-WIDER believes that research is a global public good and supports Open Access.
– An Overview and Introduction
Part of Journal Special Issue
Vulnerability in Development
– Advances in Concept and Measurement
The six papers in this Special Issue to provide insights into advances in conceptualizing and measuring vulnerability, in particularly household vulnerability to poverty and country and regional vulnerability to external shocks. All of the papers were presented at the WIDER Conference on Fragile...
More than a billion people live in extreme poverty. Many face the risk of never escaping from poverty. These risks are exacerbated by natural hazards, ill-health, and macroeconomic volatility. Consequently, vulnerability has become the defining challenge of our times. Despite this there is a need to...
Policy Brief
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Many of the world’s poorest countries can be described as 'fragile states' wherein governments cannot or will not provide an environment for households to reduce, mitigate, or cope with poverty and other risks to wellbeing. Many of these states are in conflict or just emerging from conflict. The UNU...
Policy Brief
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The first Millennium Development Goal aims to halve the number of people in the world living in extreme poverty. In this Research Brief, emanating from the UNU-WIDER project on ‘Fragility and Development’, the premise is that we should also be concerned about households who are vulnerable to poverty...
Working Paper
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– Its Design and Use for International Development Policy
In response to the need expressed by the UN General Assembly, an economic vulnerability index (EVI) has been defined by the Committee for Development Policy. The present paper, which refers to this index, first examines how a structural economic vulnerability index can be designed for the low-income...
Working Paper
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– A Conceptual Framework with Reference to Widows
This paper analyses the transmission channels through which mass violent conflict and post-conflict fragility affect households. It does so by pointing out how a fragile environment impairs a household’s core functions, boundaries, and its choice of income generating activities. Furthermore, it...
Working Paper
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There are alternative definitions of vulnerability to poverty. Most researchers prefer to define vulnerability as the probability of a household or individual falling into poverty in the future. Based on this definition and using household survey panel data from rural China, this paper attempt to...
– Achieving Growth in the Pacific
This Focus is devoted to small islands' development challenges, specifically relating to the achievement of economic growth, and draws on five papers arising from the UNU-WIDER 'Fragility and Development' research project meeting held in Fiji in December 2006.
Working Paper
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– Exploring the Linkages between Poverty, Gender, and Disaster Vulnerability in Caribbean SIDS
This paper explores the linkages between poverty and disaster vulnerability in the context of remittance flows to households in the Caribbean. Jamaica is used as the case study country. The paper discusses the channels through which natural disasters and remittances affect each other but also...
– Development Challenges
This Policy Arena examines some of the development challenges faced by SIDS. It brings together a collection of papers arising from the UNU-WIDER project Fragility and Development. These investigations were presented at the UNU-WIDER project meeting held in Lautaka, Fiji in December 2006. The Policy...
Working Paper
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– Concepts and Measurements
In this paper, economic vulnerability is defined as the exposure of an economy to exogenous shocks, arising out of economic openness, while economic resilience is defined as the policy-induced ability of an economy to withstand or recover from the effects of such shocks. The paper briefly reviews...
Displaying 16 of 52 results