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Publications (55)
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
– The Case of Sierra Leone
Phillip Michael Kargbo's UNU-WIDER working paper, 'Impact of Foreign Aid on Economic Growth in Sierra Leone: Empirical Analysis' examines the impact of foreign aid on growth in Sierra Leone using a variety of econometric approaches. The paper finds that in the period 1970-2007 aid has a significant...
Research Brief
– A New Agenda
It is commonly acknowledged that developing economies are characterized by large differences in output per worker across sectors. For such economies the shift of resources from low productivity to high productivity is the key potential driver of economic growth. Nearly all developing countries that...
It is important to understand how working conditions faced by workers in Vietnamese SMEs affect levels of compensation. This is salient given the scope of SMEs in Vietnam — they contribute to approximately 45% of the country’s GDP and 60% of its employment. There are no clearly defined financial or...
Several sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have achieved substantial economic growth in the past 30 years. Likewise, access to education has considerably expanded, as reflected in rising enrolment rates for both men and women. Female labour force participation (FLFP) rates, however, are stagnant in...
Research Brief
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Corporate actors are now playing an important role in international development and contributing new ideas to development aid. Corporate–donor partnerships represent unique opportunities to combine the experience of donors with the innovative business knowhow of corporate actors. The United Kingdom...
Service exports are the fastest growing portion of world trade and now account for nearly a quarter of global exports. Tradable services contribute to economic growth and development by bolstering industrial capabilities, facilitating productivity growth and investment, and contributing directly to...
Policy Brief
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World hunger is prevalent yet receives relatively less attention compared to poverty. The MDGs have taken a step to address this with the resolution of halving the number of starving people in the world by 2015. A substantial and sustainable reduction in hunger will also greatly improve the chances...
Policy Brief
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The rise of the new economy is undeniable. Yet its impact on the development process is still to be fully understood. Investment in ICT itself is not sufficient to ensure longterm improvements in social well-being but requires other factors that result in an enabling environment in which progress...
Research Brief
– Progressing on One Without the Other?
Women are increasingly seen as an important part of the international development agenda. Empowering women and promoting gender equality are enshrined as global development objectives with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed in 2000. Despite empowering women widely being viewed as a ‘good...
Policy Brief
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Growth, poverty reduction, and social peace are all undermined when public expenditure management and taxation are weak and when the fiscal deficit and public debt are not managed successfully. And large-scale aid and debt relief cannot work without a good fiscal system. The macroeconomic frameworks...
Policy Brief
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A multidisciplinary research project organized by UNU-WIDER shows that ongoing destruction of the world's forests is greatly contributing to the greenhouse effect. Deforestation is often a consequence of market distortions that hide the real economic value of forests and result in the inefficient...
Research Brief
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Transitional justice processes often fail to adequately deal with gender issues. Attempting to deal with gender-based violence during periods of transitional justice is often seen as destabilizing and a threat to future stability. Women’s rights are still often seen as yielding rights that have to...
Research Brief
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– The Comparative Case of the Nordic Development Agencies
The three Nordic development agencies Danida (Denmark) Sida (Sweden), and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (FMFA) all recognise gender mainstreaming as an important part of the policy-making process. Gender equality is a well-funded objective in all three agencies, but Danida and FMFA...
Research Brief
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Many World Bank investments include women’s concerns only superficially. Lack of attention to gender roles negatively impacts women’s rights. The Bank’s continued promotion of user fees in sexual and reproductive health projects prevents poor women from accessing care. The Bank’s inconsistent...
Research Brief
As the country’s oil production shifts into gear, Ghana’s new status as a middle-income country is bound to see a reduction in official development assistance (ODA) in the medium to long term. This emerging oil industry will most likely provide a stimulus for increased net foreign direct investment...
Displaying 16 of 55 results