WIDERAngle

Expert commentary from our network

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the world’s biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third term in office. And the polls suggest it will achieve this objective.If one was to go by economic growth figures alone, the Modi government’s performance has been impressive. When Modi came to power in 2014, economic growth was sluggish. A series of high-profile corruption...

Affirmative action in Brazil’s higher education system

by Rodrigo Oliveira, Edson Severnini, Alei Santos
Evidence from Brazil shows how affirmative action students in the higher education system adjust their behaviour to catch up with initially higher-performing privileged students.Affirmative action (AA) policies, aiming to address historical inequalities and promote social justice, have sparked debates across the world. Brazil, in particular, grapples with the challenges and complexities of AA, notably through Law 12,711/2012, which introduced the quota policy mandating all federal universities...

Decoding development – insights from UNU-WIDER's synthesis process and beyond

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At UNU-WIDER, we undertake our work explicitly within the context of an emergent strategy designed to maximize the impact of our research findings. We operate based on a theory of change that outlines how research eventually translates into improved development outcomes for the world’s most vulnerable populations.In 2023, we published the report Towards peace, decent work, and greater equality to guide policy efforts to achieve the United Nations Agenda 2030. This report synthesizes the key...

209 Blogpost

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Affirmative action in Brazil’s higher education system

Evidence from Brazil shows how affirmative action students in the higher education system adjust their behaviour to catch up with initially higher...

Policy Brief
How to create decent work for women

Despite advancements for gender equality in some spheres, labour market outcomes for women continue to be worse than for men. Gender gaps in pay, labour force participation rates, and measures of job quality are stubbornly persistent and continue to...

Blog
Affirmative action policies to increase diversity are successful, but controversial, around the world

In a landmark judgment in June 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled against the use of race-conscious admissions in colleges and universities. This...

Blog
Gender pay gaps on the rise in South Africa

New analysis of income data in South Africa shows the gender pay gap—how much more men earn than women—has increased. According to findings from a...

Policy Brief
Tasks, skills, and institutions

Concerns about widening income inequality within countries continue to gain prominence in public debate worldwide. In the last decade, attention to the concentration of income at the very top of the distribution (top 1%) has increased. This...

Blog
On the road to fairer societies in Asia and the Pacific region: Four focus areas on center stage

A recent panel discussion at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok set out to identify policy...

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SOUTHMOD family extended: Welcome to the three new Latin American teams

How would progressive income taxation affect income inequality in Bolivia? What are the costs and benefits of implementing a state pension in Colombia...

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The Great Gatsby Curve and the Global South: Time for a more ambitious redistribution and reparations agenda

The famous 1920s book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the classic analogy for the American dream of meritocracy —that any person can...

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The richer your neighbours, the more you borrow – the case of South Africa
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Research on how income inequality affects borrowing behaviour reignited after the 2008 global recession. One prevailing theory is that rising income...

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Four global problems that will be aggravated by the UK’s recent cuts to international aid

UK economic forecasts have improved markedly since the September 2022 mini-budget. The economic recession may now be more shallow and public borrowing...

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Is a strong middle class the secret to high levels of human development?

Many countries today experience increasing or persistent income inequality, a major concern for citizens and politicians alike. This concern is...

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Social mobility among disadvantaged groups in India

In recent decades, India has experienced rapid economic growth alongside radical affirmative action programs enacted since independence. This column...

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New global estimates on profits in tax havens suggest the tax loss continues to rise

The world has been trying to curb profit shifting to tax havens for a decade, but consistent time series evaluating the impact of these reforms have...

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New country on the SOUTHMOD map: Meet our tax-benefit microsimulation team in Rwanda!
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How can Global South countries improve their tax and social protection systems? One way is to take advantage of tools that help assess the impact of...

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The inheritance of human capital: Rethinking how much parents’ influence children’s human capital in low- and middle-income countries
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The measure of human capital —the economic value of one’s skills and experience— acknowledges that investments in people’s cognitive and emotional...

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