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May 2021

WIDERAngle blog. Photo by Juan Arredondo/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment

Over 2 billion workers globally are informal — what should we do about it?

by Kunal Sen

Informality is a pervasive phenomenon in the labour markets of developing countries. Two billion workers, representing 61.2 per cent of the world’s employed population, are in informal employment. Emerging and developing countries account for more than 93 per cent of total global informal employment, with sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia containing the largest shares.

Blogs

Photo by Juan Arredondo/Getty Images/Images of Empowerment

Better measures of informality can improve poverty reduction policy

by Eva-Maria Egger

In a recent study, my co-authors and I propose a new way to measure informality by household, rather than by individual worker. We find that such an approach —a household-level ‘depth of informality’ metric— can have important consequences for making and evaluating policies that seek to address the link between high levels of informality and levels of household welfare in developing country economies.

Precarization or protection? How labour policies influence the effects of globalization on informality

by Lourenço S. Paz, Rita K. Almeida, and Jennifer P. Poole

Globalization has generally coincided with a rise in work outside the formal economy, intensifying job precarization — when high-quality, formal jobs that entitle workers to benefits are replaced by jobs which may not comply with regulations and offer fewer benefits.

Photo by Mathias P.R. Reding on Unsplash

How global tax dodging costs lives – new research shows a direct link to increased death rates

by Bernadette O'Hare, Kyle McNabb, and Stephen Hall

Tax abuse is an expensive business. According to a recent report by the Tax Justice Network, avoiding or evading tax deprives governments across the world of around US$427 billion (£302 billion) every year. This is money that could otherwise be spent on things like clean water, sanitation, education and health care.

Precarious employment for youth in Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia

by Shireen AlAzzawi and Vladimír Hlásny

Youth (those aged 15–29) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) face notoriously precarious employment prospects. Youth unemployment is the highest in the world — currently 23% in Arab States and 30% in Northern Africa in 2019. Unemployment among young women in the region is near double that for young men, reaching 42%, and has been growing at a faster rate.

Ethnic diversity and informal employment in Ghana

by Michael Danquah and Sefa Awaworyi Churchill

Informal activities are widespread in many developing countries. In many sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries informal economic activities account for more than one-third of economic output and more than two-thirds of employment. Workers engaged in informal activities tend to be less productive and disproportionately more poor.

Original photo by Bella The Brave on Unsplash

Truly one of a kind – SA-TIED’s Research Assistant programme

by Anne Tomi

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. This early career period is arguably the most important time for skill building and professional development, which is why the Research Assistant (RA) programme under SA-TIED is designed to help junior researchers achieve their career goals.

News

UNU-WIDER releases first Annual Report for 35-year anniversary

To commemorate 35 years of influencing development and practice, UNU-WIDER releases its first public Annual Report. 2020 marked the 35th anniversary of UNU-WIDER, 45 years since the establishment of the United Nations University (UNU), and 75 years of the UN. Looking back at 2020, the report demonstrates the responsiveness of the Institute to the unfolding crisis of COVID-19 and the pressing concerns of the effects on development.

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

Rachel Gisselquist will take part in 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 focus on the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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 to discuss the industrial policies available to support an inclusive, sustainable and resilient industrial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finland and Norway sign agreements extending IGM programme to 2024

On 7 May 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway signed a funding agreement sealing Phase II of the Inclusive growth in Mozambique programme. By doing so, it joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, which had signed a similar agreement a few days earlier.

Events

Presentation | Tony Addison and Alan Roe at the United Nations Global Roundtable on Extractive Industries

25 May 2021, online, New York, United States

Tony Addison and Alan Roe, both Non-Resident Senior Research Fellows at UNU-WIDER, presented at a high-level United Nations Global Roundtable on Extractive Industries. The Roundtable was led by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Policy Seminar | SA-TIED Dialogues - Research into Policy

28 May 2021, online, Pretoria, South Africa

This policy dialogue will be hosted under the work stream on Enterprise development for job creation and growth and will discuss the impact of globalization and the fragmentation of production networks on South African manufacturing firms.

Presentation | UNU-WIDER at the World Village Festival 2021

29-30 May 2021, online, Helsinki, Finland

UNU-WIDER joins the World Village Festival 2021 together with other UN agencies and affiliates on 29-30 May 2021. This year, for the first time ever the festival will be organized virtually. Come explore the village and chat with us!

Presentation | Regional identity and intergenerational resource conflict

2 June 2021, Umea University School of Business and Economics, Sweden

Dr Klarizze Puzon will present preliminary findings from a forthcoming WIDER working paper on 'Regional identity and intergenerational resource conflict — Evidence from Guinea' at a seminar organized by the Umea University School of Business and Economics and the Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics (CERE).

Panel discussion | How to get inclusive growth started in fragile contexts

9 June 2021, online, Finland

Fragile and conflict-affected states experience volatile economic growth, with significant consequences for human welfare. Fragile states tend to grow in booms and busts, with little correlation with institutional quality or state capacity. Economic growth, if it is sustained and inclusive, can lead a country out of fragility.

Project workshop | Fiscal states – the origins and development implications

15-22 June 2021, online, Helsinki, Finland

Over three days in June, this workshop will bring together researchers to present their work to date on the effects of fiscal states in low- and middle-income countries and their economic, political, and historical determinants.

Seminar | Jayati Ghosh on ending the COVID-19 vaccine apartheid

22 June 2021, online, Finland

On 22 June 2021 Jayati Ghosh joins the WIDER Webinar Series to discuss the pathway available to achieve a people’s vaccine, with equitable vaccine distribution, and increased public production. Ken Shadlen joins as discussant to talk about the challenges of increasing production to assure adequate supply of COVID-19 vaccines and the role of technology transfer.

Conference | Achieving Sustainable Development in the Least Developed Countries – LDC Future Forum

30 August – 1 September 2021, online, Finland

The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are low-income countries that face severe structural impediments to sustainable development. These countries are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks and have low levels of human assets. To help the LDCs address these specific challenges, the United Nations convenes a dedicated conference every ten years.

WIDER Development Conference | COVID-19 and development – effects and new realities for the Global South

6-8 September 2021, online

The 2021 WIDER Development Conference will take place online during 6-8 September 2021, with the aim of connecting research and policy communities around the world to discuss the effects of COVID-19 on development in the Global South, and how to move forward.

WIDER Working Paper Series

Working Paper

COVID-19 and the state

Working Paper

The financial inclusion agenda – examining the role of conventional banks in deepening access to formal credit

Working Paper

Heterogeneous informality in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Working Paper

The economic gains of closing the employment gender gap – evidence from Morocco

Working Paper

Consolidating behavioural economics and rational choice theory – insights from inequality research

Working Paper

Inequality and structural transformation in the changing nature of work
The case of Indonesia

Working Paper

Measuring earnings inequality in South Africa using household survey and administrative tax microdata

Working Paper

Intergenerational mobility in occupational choices – are there gender differences in Ghana?

Working Paper

State-dependent fiscal multipliers and financial dynamics – an impulse response analysis by local projections for South Africa

Publications

UNU-WIDER Annual Report 2020

The year 2020 promised to be a big year for UNU-WIDER, with the celebration of its 35th anniversary, the 45th birthday of the United Nations University (UNU), and 75 years of the UN. But as the year began, the Institute’s focus quickly shifted away from celebrations and towards the more pressing concerns of an unprecedented global pandemic.

Annual Lecture 23 | Informality – addressing the Achilles Heel of social protection in Latin America

by Santiago Levy

The 2019 WIDER Annual Lecture was given by Santiago Levy at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where he discussed the challenges of social protection in economies with large informal sectors, such as in Latin America.

Annual Lecture 24 | UN at 75: slow death or a new direction

by Mark Malloch-Brown

As the UN celebrated its 75th anniversary the 2020 WIDER Annual Lecture was delivered by Lord Mark Malloch-Brown. He discussed whether the UN can reinvent itself, or whether it will sink into irrelevance.

Report | Business Practice Intervention Survey – Descriptive Report

by Paolo Falco, Henrik Hansen, John Rand, Bjørn Bo Sørensen, Neda Trifković, and Finn Tarp

Myanmar’s manufacturing sector is at the heart of the country’s commercial landscape. From garment production for the international market to diverse food, furniture, gemstones, and metal provision, the more than 70,000 micro, small, and medium firms, employing hundreds of thousands of people, continue to be the focus of substantial economic policy.

Background Note | Review of sub-national institutional performance in Ghana

by Daniel Chachu

The literature on the concept, measurement, causes, and correlates of sub-national institutional governance is not new. From the seminal work of Putnam et al. (1993) to recent attempts by Iddawela et al. (2021), several authors have explored untapped spaces that contribute to our understanding of the relationship between sub-national governance and development.

Opportunities

Request for research proposals | Addressing ethnic inequality – experiences of reform

United 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 speak to the core questions of this research stream and draw on focused analysis of one or more government policies, programmes, or other reform efforts to address ethnic inequality will be considered. Extended submission deadline: 6 June 2021, 23:59 UTC+3

Vacancy | Web Developer

UNU-WIDER is looking for an outstanding individual with strong web and systems development skills to join the institute’s ICT Team. Open until position is filled.

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