What is research impact?

This page documents cases where we believe our research and communication activities have had an impact on the wider world of development. UNU-WIDER aims not only to create high-quality policy relevant research, but also to ensure that this research is shared with those who set the course of development policy. Our three core audiences, researchers, international development agencies, and national decision-makers, all rely on accurate and timely information to get their job done. We aim to provide that information in as many forms as possible, through events, the press, videos, social media, and our publications.

333 impact pages

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Impact
Media advisory: How can we secure the future for generations to come? – experts from around the world gather in Maputo from 14–16 May 2024

The 2024 WIDER Development Conference The world at crossroads – securing the future generations, from 14–16 May 2024, in Maputo, Mozambique, explores the pressing global issues of climate change, conflict, and inequality and their impact on securing...

Presentation
Bridging the gap: Unveiling the potential of Tanzania's SMEs through VAT insights

UNU-WIDER Research Fellow Amina Ebrahim speaks at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen, Norway. She presents the findings of a forthcoming WIDER Working Paper to the research staff. Her findings support opportunities for expanding knowledge...

Mon, 29 April 2024
Bergen, Jekteviksbakken 31, Norway
Past event
Impact
UNU-WIDER research cited in major UN DESA and EU Tax Observatory reports

The 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development report and Global Tax Evasion Report 2024 include findings from UNU-WIDER research on illicit financial flows, structural transformation, and international monetary system. The 2024 Financing for Sustainable Development report highlights UNU-WIDER's Government Revenue Dataset (GRD) as a prominent source for revenue statistics.

In the media
Findings from recent research based on Ugandan administrative tax data gather visibility in the local media

Research insights and policy recommendations presented in an in-person workshop organised on 15 November 2023 in Kampala gathered visibility in several Ugandan news outlets.

News
New release of the World Income Inequality Database – new WIID version includes updates to the WIID Companion datasets

The UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality Database―widely known by its acronym WIID―provides the most comprehensive set of income inequality statistics available. It presents detailed information on income inequality for most countries and historical...

In the media
Stark estimates on eradication of poverty gain media interest

UNU-WIDER working paper on the progress towards eradication of poverty has been highlighted in several media.

News
Press release: Renowned speaker Dr. Arkebe Oqubay to deliver keynote address at academic and policy-relevant lecture on sustainable growth in African cities

Helsinki, Finland – The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) are proud to announce a prestigious lecture by Dr. Arkebe Oqubay, former Senior...

News
UNU Statement on the Israel–Gaza Crisis

The United Nations University echoes calls for international humanitarian law and human rights law to be respected and upheld.

Impact
Media advisory: How can sustainable development be financed in the Global South? Experts from around the world gather in Oslo 6-8 September

How can profit shifting—a bane on development efforts in the Global South—be stopped? What is the potential of social benefit systems to deliver during crises? How are collaborations between researchers and tax authorities benefiting policymaking in...

News
Breaking barriers, building economies: women in economic policy

August holds special significance in South Africa, marked by Women's Day on the 9th. It is a time to honour women's extraordinary courage and resilience in the struggle for equality and freedom. During this month, South Africa celebrates the...

News
UNU-WIDER releases major report on peace, decent work, and greater equality

UNU-WIDER’s 2019–2023 work programme has built a strong evidence base to support actions that contribute to more peaceful and effective states and more fair and sustainable societies. A synthesis report on the key findings of our work programme on...

Presentation
UNU-WIDER shares findings at EADI/CEsA Conference in Lisbon
Mon, 10 July 2023Thu, 13 July 2023
Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Rua do Quelhas 6, 1200-781, Lisboa, Portugal
Past event
Seminar
Aid effectiveness in fragile states

UNU-WIDER researchers offer a seminar on aid effectiveness in fragile states to an audience of Swedish development officials and foreign officers. The seminar is organized by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

Tue, 23 May 2023
Online, Sweden
Past event
Blog
Building connections that matter: UNU-WIDER Visiting PhD and Scholar programmes
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Every year about 20 visitors come to Helsinki to find a new home at UNU-WIDER in our Visiting Scholars and PhD Fellowship programmes. Although their...

Blog
Along the PhD path: A change in environment for a new perspective
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After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, I was thrilled to receive an acceptance letter to UNU-WIDER's Visiting PhD Fellowship Programme. Until this...

News
Press Release: New research reveals close to $1 trillion in profits shifted to tax havens

A new research paper published by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) shows the first global estimates of profits shifted to tax havens between 1975-2019. The study documents a remarkable increase in profit shifting, with close to $1 trillion or 40% of multinational profits shifted to tax havens in 2019. Globally, 10% of corporate tax revenues are lost as a result.

News
UNU-WIDER alum Nanak Kakwani releases a new book on poverty and inequality

Professor Nanak Kakwani is one of UNU-WIDER's first research fellows. Joining the institute in 1986, he is the author of the second WIDER Working Paper ever published. The first is Food, Economics, and Entitlements by UNU-WIDER founder and Nobel...

News
Call for Contributions: GlobalDev and UNU-WIDER Blog series on social mobility

In the last decades, globalization and technological advancements have improved the living standards of billions of people, and enabled many households to cross the poverty line. Nonetheless, these trends have also exacerbated inequalities around the...

News
New update of the World Income Inequality Database and WIID Companion — version 30 June 2022

The UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality Database ― widely known by its acronym WIID ― provides the most comprehensive set of income inequality statistics available. It presents detailed information on income inequality for developed, developing, and...

In the media
UNU-WIDER experts and the WIDER Development Conference featured in the media

Kalle Hirvonen, Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER, was interviewed by YLE for a news article published on 10 March 2022 on the effects of the Ukraine war on global food security. ‘The war in Ukraine is causing a major supply shock to the world food market...

News
MEDIA ADVISORY: International conference gathers conflict experts in Helsinki

Next week a high-level conference on peacebuilding and conflict brings more than 250 experts to Helsinki to discuss new research and current policy challenges in preventing and resolving conflicts and sustaining peace across the world. The two-day conference is organised by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER).

Policy workshop
World Income Inequality Database project presents at the OECD's DAC Community of Practice on Poverty and Inequalities

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Community of Practice on Poverty and Inequalities (CoP-PI) hosts several thematic dialogues between researchers and practitioners on embedding...

Fri, 25 March 2022
Online, United States
Past event
News
Statement on the situation in Ukraine

UNU-WIDER stands with the people of Ukraine. The unprovoked and unacceptable Russian military offensive of Ukraine is in direct opposition to the UN Charter, and international humanitarian and human rights laws. UNU-WIDER strongly condemns the...

Blog
The new normal: My experience in an online cohort of visiting PhD Fellows
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Everyone that has been engaged in a PhD experience agrees that the whole process is a tough and sometimes lonely challenge. However, the visiting PhD...

Blog
Dr Pia Rattenhuber on inequality in crises — an interview

How do crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic influence inequality and the other way around? This year’s UN Day Dresden put a spotlight on “Inequalities...

Presentation
Pia Rattenhuber's keynote speech at UNU-FLORES United Nations Day 2021 commemorative event

United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and Resources (UNU-FLORES) organizes a commemorative event in Dresden on the occasion of the UN day 2021. The topic of the event is Inequalities in crises. UNU-WIDER...

Tue, 5 October 2021
Plenary Hall, City Hall, Dresden, Germany
Past event
Blog
I was a visiting PhD fellow at UNU-WIDER — this is my experience
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Virgi Agita Sari joined UNU-WIDER as a visiting PhD fellow in the summer of 2017. Coming from Indonesia, Virgi joined five other fellows from across...

Blog
COVID-19 and the Global South — From crisis response to sustainable development
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Around the world, the pandemic, and the measures taken to address it, have had far reaching effects on poverty, inequality, and governance. And even...

Impact
WIID – a main source to monitor progress on SDG10 in the Sustainable Development Outlook 2021

The World Income Inequality Database (WIID), hosted by UNU-WIDER, is cited in the Sustainable Development Outlook 2021: From Anguish to Determination as a main source of data on progress achieved worldwide towards reducing income inequality.

In the media
Several UNU-WIDER research projects featured in the media

Several projects from UNU-WIDER’s core work programme on Transforming economies, states, and societies are referenced in recent media. The citations of UNU-WIDER’s ongoing research demonstrate that the institute is a go-to source for new knowledge on...

News
Kunal Sen at the high-level LDC regional review meeting

UNU-WIDER director Kunal Sen has been invited to contribute as a panelist to the High-level Asia-Pacific Regional Review Meeting on the Istanbul Programme of Action in Preparation for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-5). The regional review meeting will take place 30 August - 2 September 2021, in Geneva and virtually.

In the media
Ending the COVID-19 vaccine apartheid - WIDER webinar speaker interviewed for a Finnish development news portal

Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts and Jawaharlal Nehru University gave a presentation on vaccine inequality at the WIDER webinar series in June 2021, and was interviewed for an article published on the Finnish development news portal Maailma.net.

In the media
Media on the effect of COVID-19 to the extreme poor with data from UNU-WIDER

The global economy might be showing signs of recovering from the pandemic, but the impacts have been worst felt by the most vulnerable and recovery will be slow. In a feature story by local Finnish news service Yle, UNU-WIDER Director, Kunal Sen, was...

In the media
Development Today highlights new UNU-WIDER guidebook

UNU-WIDER policy guidebook 'Deals and development in fragile and conflict-affected states' published earlier this month has been featured in Development Today.

News
Ministry of Labour and Social Security launches IGM report on school-to-work transition of TVET students in Mozambique

On 24 June 2021, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Mozambique (MITSS) launched the final report of the survey on the School-to-Work Transition of Technical and Vocational Training Graduates in Mozambique. The report analyses the dynamics...

News
Three UNU-WIDER books in top five most accessed economics titles on Oxford Scholarship Online

According to a listing by Oxford University Press, three UNU-WIDER books are among its top five most visited economics titles during the past year (April 2020–March 2021).

News
UNU-WIDER experts in key role in global roundtable process on extractives

Over the past eight months, various heads of state, ministers, and other stakeholders from around the world have participated in a dialogue to discuss the pressing issues and the future of the extractives sector. UNU-WIDER researchers Tony Addison and Alan Roe have played a key role in the process, which culminated in a global roundtable led by the UN Secretary-General on 25 May 2021.

In the media
Child labour during pandemic - UNU-WIDER expert interviewed for a Finnish development news portal

UNU-WIDER Research Associate Milla Nyyssölä was interviewed for an article discussing the increase of child labour during corona pandemia. The article is published on a Finnish development news portal Maailma.net.

News
New updates to the World Income Inequality Database (WIID)

The UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality Database ― widely known by its acronym, WIID ― provides the most comprehensive set of income inequality statistics available. It presents detailed information on income inequality for developed, developing, and transition countries.

News
Kunal Sen invited to expert consultation with UNIDO on manufacturing responses to COVID-19

UNU-WIDER Director Kunal Sen was invited to contribute to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's (UNIDO) High-Level Expert Consultation (HLEC) which took place online on 18 May 2021. He joined eminent experts including Joseph E...

News
Rachel Gisselquist at Expert Group Meetings of the 2021 United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

Rachel Gisselquist will attend Expert Group Meetings (EGMs) on 19–20 May 2021 in preparation for the 2021 United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development. Rachel is a Senior Research Fellow and expert on inequality who will join the EGMs to help inform the thematic reviews for this year’s HLPF, which focuses on the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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