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Publications (24)
Despite the rapid expansion of social protection across the Global South in recent decades, the ILO (2021: 19) estimates that more than half of the global population still have no access to any form of protection against poverty vulnerability and social exclusion. Globally, the share of aid that...
– The framing of social protection policies in Tanzania
Until 2010s, social protection was not high on the political agenda in Tanzania. Yet in 2012, the government approved the implementation of a nationwide conditional cash transfer programme. What led the government to commit to a policy area that was otherwise of low priority? The development of the...
– Example from Malawi
Social assistance programmes have proliferated across Africa alongside redemocratization — the return of multi-party systems with regular, competitive elections. Competitive elections in Africa can provide an incentive to welfare policy reform because they push presidential candidates and political...
The Rwandan government introduced the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP) with donor support in 2008. The VUP comprises public works, unconditional direct support for those unable to work, and a financial services component that promotes financial literacy and provides credit. This new elite...
– A tax-benefit microsimulation
In an attempt to reduce poverty and vulnerability in a sustainable and cost-effective way, in 2003 the Zambian Government introduced a social cash transfer (SCT) scheme. However, a recent review of Zambia’s social assistance system revealed that this scheme provided insufficient coverage to many...
– Success and failure in the extractive sector
A central difficulty for extractive activity is that benefits accrue at the national level but disruptions are highly localized. Companies recognise that these imbalances need to be addressed and adopt active programmes to improve local benefits. These programmes have had mixed past success, partly...
Research Brief
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– How much are we willing to allow top earners to squeeze the poor?
The majority of income inequality occurs at the tails of the income distribution The Gini coefficient does not provide a representative measure of income inequality When the top 10% of income earners expand their share of national income it often appears to be to the detriment of the poorest 40%...
Research Brief
pdf
Aid projects that specifically target women tend be better at increasing gender equality than those that mainstream gender. The gender gap can be narrowed through public works that focus on providing decent employment for women as well as training and micro-finance for female entrepreneurs. The lack...
Research Brief
pdf
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
pdf
Forest degradation remains a leading environmental problem, given the scale of forest loss and the crucial role of forests to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Initiatives from the climate change policy arena, especially REDD+, are opening new ways for a broader mainstreaming of forest...
Research Brief
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Development of green cities is one way to help address problems associated with climate change. Curitiba, Brazil, combines integrated sustainable urban planning and strong leadership, resulting in a reduced environmental impact since it began these policies in 1966. Tianjin City, China, emphasizes...
Research Brief
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Review shows that global agricultural production must be increased by about 70 per cent by 2050 in order to provide sufficient nourishment for the world’s growing population. Focusing on tropical climates to 2050, climate change is likely to reduce the rate of agricultural productivity growth. The...
Research Brief
China is the world’s largest developing country and its huge population requires a similarly large agricultural sector to sustain it. A major challenge for China faces is working out how increasing demands for food can be met at the same time as reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Despite the...
Research Brief
In the WIDER Working Paper 'Aid and the Fiscal and Monetary Responses to Dutch Disease' Alan Roe looks at the ways in which aid-induced, and mineral export-induced Dutch Disease (DD) are similar, and the ways in which they differ. He argues that many countries will experience both kinds of DD...
Research Brief
Three global crises -finance, environment and food The global economy is currently facing three crises which threaten to undermine the welfare and prosperity of present and future generations. The first is the financial crisis which originated in the north but which has also effected the South...
Displaying 16 of 24 results