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Working Paper
The financial inclusion agenda: Examining the role of conventional banks in deepening access to formal creditUsing a unique district-level panel dataset, we investigate the effect of banking system penetration on financial inclusion in Ghana...
Banking Financial inclusion Access to credit
In the media
Report on the impact of COVID-19 to Ghana’s labour market hits headlinesA new report from the Transforming informal work and livelihoods project has caught the attention of policy makers and media in Ghana. Researchers from UNU-WIDER and the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of...
COVID-19 Informal sector GhanaBlog
Truly one of a kind – SA-TIED’s Research Assistant programme
Most jobs right out of university are either filled with busy work or too much work—very little time is available for gaining new skills...
Article
UNU-WIDER ongoing work on the effect of COVID-19 on the economies, states, and societies of the Global SouthIt is clear that COVID-19 will have serious implications for economies, states, and societies of the Global South. At UNU-WIDER we are reorienting our work to think through what those implications are and possible mitigation and adaptation measures...
COVID-19
Working Paper
Intergenerational mobility in occupational choices: Are there gender differences in Ghana?Historically, the issue of intergenerational evolution of income, wealth, and socioeconomic status has been the subject of considerable research in the analysis of inequality...
Intergenerational Mobility socioeconomic status Occupational choiceRequest for research proposals
Addressing ethnic inequality – experiences of reformUnited Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) is now requesting research proposals on a core theme of the Addressing group-based inequalities project: ‘Experiences of Reform’. Proposals for research that...
Blog
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking youth in the UK – an interview with an expert: Inequalities in access to education
I recently spoke to Catherine Gladwell, who is the Director and Founder of Refugee Education UK (formerly Refugee Support Network ) and one of the researchers who contributed to our special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies on invo...
Inequalities Intersecting inequalities RefugeesWorking Paper
Consolidating behavioural economics and rational choice theory: Insights from inequality researchUsing illustrations from research on inequality, this paper offers evidence on the strengths of ‘behavioural synthesis’, i.e. the reconciliation between neoclassical and behavioural economics...
Inequality Behavioral economics BehaviourConference
COVID-19 and development - effects and new realities for the Global South
Working Paper
The gendered crisis: livelihoods and mental well-being in India during COVID-19This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the gendered dimensions of employment and mental health among urban informal-sector workers in India...
COVID-19 Informal sector EmploymentNews
No one is safe until everyone is safe: Finland must advance global COVID-19 solidarity
COVID-19 vaccine United Nations Finland Working Paper
Analysis of the distributional effects of COVID-19 and state-led remedial measures in South AfricaThis paper explores the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa on income poverty and inequality in South Africa...
Social protection Tax-benefit microsimulation Income distributionNews
Call for participation: Life with Corona survey round 2Life with Corona, a global survey tracking the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 around the world has just been released with updated questions.
COVID-19 Trust Pandemic
Blog
A world of protest
That we are living in an era of popular protest is undeniable. A quick survey of headlines from around the world — or better yet, your social media feed — reveals countless uprisings unfolding in real time...
Social conflict Good governance Social movementBlog
Foreign aid can help stem the decline of democracy, if used in the right wayDemocracy is having a hard time. In India, once the world’s largest democracy, the pandemic has hastened the country’s slide toward authoritarianism ...
Foreign aid Development aid Aid effectivenessBlog
Is sexual violence a driver of the early marriage of girls in India?
Marriage at a younger age, generally before the legal age of marriage, is a pervasive practice in many parts of the world...
Child Marriage Women's empowerment CrimeBlog
A ‘data revolution’ for sustainable development leaves gaps on inequality
Among the many things said about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the description by the President of the UN General Assembly’s 70 th session, Mogens Lykketoft, that the SDGs represented ‘an unprecedented statistical challenge&...
Inequality Quantitative research methodology Qualitative research methodologyDatabase
ETD – Economic Transformation DatabaseOpen and free to use, the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database (ETD) provides comprehensive, long-term, and internationally comparable sectoral data on employment and productivity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The ETD covers:...
Economic transformation Employment Productivity
Blog
Why do we see boom-and-bust growth in fragile and conflict-affected states?
One of the most pressing challenges in development policy is to bring about rapid, sustained, and inclusive growth in developing countries...
Fragile states Conflict Economic growthBlog
Persistent gender roles in South Africa deprive women of leisure time
In most countries, traditional gender roles within the household are still common due to the prevalence and persistence of patriarchal systems...
South Africa Women's empowerment Women's labour force participationBlog
Supply or demand? Exploring the mechanisms behind the rise of female labour force participation in MexicoAt the global level, gender gaps in labour force participation have narrowed and over half a billion women have joined the workforce in the last 30 years...
Women's work Female labour force participation EconomicsBlog
The paths and legacies of civil war
Civil wars leave enduring legacies for social networks , political identities , preferences , and attitudes ...
Civil conflict Peacebuilding InstitutionsBlog
Our project on the institutional legacies of violent conflict
One of the most critical challenges in international development today is to understand how best to support peace, security, economic recovery, and legitimate political authority in fragile and conflict-affected countries...
Institutions Conflict Post-conflictVacancies
Web DeveloperUNU-WIDER is looking for an outstanding individual with strong web and systems development skills to join the institute’s ICT Team.
Working Paper
Ban on female migrant workers: Skills-differentiated evidence from Sri LankaThis study examines the skills-differentiated impact of a restrictive female labour migration policy in Sri Lanka using monthly departure data from 2012 to 2018 in a difference-in-difference model...
Labour migration Employment WomenBlog
Using tax data to inform economic policy in South AfricaCountries need data and evidence to create, amend, and evaluate policy. Indeed, one of the key mandates of policy makers in South Africa is to make evidence-based policy decisions which improve the policy landscape of the country...