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September 2022

UNU-WIDER Winter School on tax policy research | New tools for effective tax administration

in partnership with Stellenbosch University, South Africa on 11-15 July 2022

This year UNU-WIDER organized a winter school course on tax policy research in Africa. The course, organized in collaboration with Stellenbosch University, brought together 27 African researchers from 13 countries to reinforce their expertise in tax policy whilst enabling them to build new connections. Hear from the participants, the lecturers, and the staff as they reflect on their experience in a collection of blogs and video interviews.

Blogs

Experiences from UNU-WIDER Winter School 2022: One of the best global training programmes in tax research

by John Karangwa

‘Across Africa, governments are now waking up to the fact that taxation targets or economic development goals will not be met without policies that are based on scientific evidence. More effective revenue collection is required to achieve broad-based growth and fiscal sustainability.

Bootcamp for better tax policies in Africa

by Amina Ebrahim

‘I intend to see a world in which tax policy research is based on evidence, and policy decisions are data-driven.’ This is an aspiration expressed by a participant of the WIDER Winter School 2022. The comment summarizes well the reasoning behind the course and UNU-WIDER’s goals for domestic revenue mobilization in the Global South.

Tools for effective tax administration

by Janet Simbeye

The importance of conducting high-quality analysis for policy advice cannot be understated. The UNU-WIDER Winter School for tax policy research delivered the right tools for my day-to-day work.

Lives can be improved when policymakers and researchers collaborate

by Isabelle Beyera

My motivation for doing economics research comes from the wish to see every human being have their basic needs met and enjoy their life. My interest is in public economics. This knowledge helps me to analyze how state economic policies affect the population and thus helps me find the best policies that result in citizens’ well-being.

Opportunities beyond lecture rooms – widening my career perspectives as a UNU-WIDER PhD fellow

by Nyemwererai Matshaka

It was surreal to take a springtime walk along the harbor in Helsinki on my way to UNU-WIDER’s headquarter offices for the first time. My initial application to the UNU-WIDER PhD Fellowship programme had been rejected. In 2021, I applied again and was genuinely surprised to be accepted —shocked actually.

Electoral politics and Mexico’s COVID-19 vaccine roll-out

by Emilio Gutiérrez, Jaakko Meriläinen and Antonio M. Ponce de León

Government responsiveness is an integral feature of representative democracy. Its importance could be amplified in times of crisis, especially if citizens cannot rely on market actors for help. Governments can soften the impacts of negative shocks to the status quo, or exponentiate them by their inaction or mistakes.

Sales recovered faster from the pandemic than employment: Evidence from tax administrative and survey data in Zambia

by Aliisa Koivisto, Christopher Hoy, Laban Simbeye, Muhammad Malik and Mashekwa Maboshe

Like most other countries, the government of Zambia introduced restrictions to control COVID-19, which considerably curtailed normal economic activity. A new WIDER and World Bank working paper, a multi-institutional collaboration of UNU-WIDER, the World Bank, the Zambia Revenue Authority and the University of Zambia, draws on findings from both tax administrative and survey data...

Digital platforms and job search:
Experimental evidence from Mozambique

by Sam Jones and Kunal Sen

Digital technologies can be deployed to improve job search, but their effectiveness in practice is disrupted. This column uses experimental data to investigate the effect of a digital job-matching platform on the labour outcomes of young people in Mozambique. The ‘treatment’ of a text message inviting people to join the platform encouraged uptake ...

NEWS

UNU-WIDER launches alumni programme

UNU-WIDER is pleased to announce the launch of its alumni programme. UNU-WIDER provides alumni with an opportunity for lifelong engagement with the institute and the growing WIDER community.

Alumni can connect through WIDER Development Conferences and other events around the world, in Helsinki, and online. Through UNU-WIDER, alumni have access to valuable professional opportunities and career advice.

Senior Research Fellow Patricia Justino appointed as Deputy Director of UNU-WIDER

The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) appoints Senior Research Fellow Patricia Justino as Deputy Director on 1 August 2022. In her new role, Patricia Justino will support UNU-WIDER Director Kunal Sen in providing leadership to the institute’s researchers and building stronger networks with donors and other stakeholders.

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 world, raising a renewed interest in questions pertaining to social mobility. GlobalDev partners with UNU-WIDER to invite you to write a blog about social mobility.

UNU-WIDER releases new video for the International Day of Peace

Watch our new short video The puzzle of peace to learn more about our project on the institutional legacies of violent conflict and how we work with researchers from several disciplines to look at how to build sustainable, lasting peace. The video was released for the International Day of Peace, observed around the world on 21 September every year.

Opportunities

Vacancy | Head of Operations (P-4)

UNU-WIDER is hiring a new Head of Operations to lead the Institute’s Operations Support Unit in Helsinki.This position will suit an operations expert looking for a new challenge and the opportunity to shape one of the world’s most influential research institutes. The Head of Operations will lead a unit of 20+ professionals, be an integral part of UNU-WIDER’s management team and provide leadership in the development of the Institute, including the way UNU-WIDER implements its various programmes and projects, both at the global level as well as within its country engagements in the Global South. Closing date: 16 October 2022 23:59 UTC+3.

Request for research proposals | Enterprise development for job creation, Public revenue mobilization, and Structural transformation and inequality

UNU-WIDER together with the National Treasury of South Africa, is requesting research proposals under the second phase of the SA-TIED programme. Papers generated under this Request for Research Proposals will be published as part of the workstreams on enterprise development for job creation, public revenue mobilization, or structural transformation and inequality. Submission deadline: 10 October 2022, 23:59 UTC+3.

Vacancy | Research Fellow (P-2/P-3)

UNU-WIDER is hiring a Research Fellow in Maputo, Mozambique. As a Research Fellow, you would contribute to the research and management of our exciting programme on Inclusive growth in Mozambique (IGM), which builds critical bridges between research and policy in Mozambique. Closing date: 19 October 2022, 23:59 UTC+3.

Vacancy | Finance Associate - Team Lead (G6)

UNU-WIDER is hiring a Finance Associate to lead its local finance team in Helsinki, Finland.
As a Finance Associate, you would be part of our global Finance team. Your responsibilities would include service design, service provision, supervision of local team, advice to internal clients, applying and interpreting corporate policies, procedures, and guidelines. You will also become a key player in our transition to Oracle Cloud ERP system. Closing date: 11 October 2022, 23:59 UTC+3.

EVENTS

WIDER Development Conference | Reducing inequality – the great challenge of our time

in partnership with UNIANDES, 5-7 October 2022, in Bogotá, Colombia

As new research uncovers the many negative impacts that high inequality can have, a consensus is emerging that achieving SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities is a global goal of critical importance. This WIDER Development Conference provides a forum to discuss innovative, theoretical, and empirical research on inequality, and its policy take-aways.

WIDER Annual Lecture 26 | In the name of progress: Will technology solve inequality?

7 October 2022

The WIDER Annual Lecture continues in its tradition of presenting groundbreaking research with renowned economist Daron Acemoğlu. Based on his newest book, In the Name of Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity (co-authored with Simon Johnson), this presentation will challenge the techno-optimism of our age and of our academic profession...

Conference | Debt and innovative finance in developing countries

in partnership with BOFIT, 27-28 October 2022

Convened by UNU-WIDER and The Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), this conference brings together leading scholars and policymakers to discuss the way ahead on the debt challenges faced by developing countries as well as the opportunities to use innovative financial instruments to promote low carbon transitions.

Webinar | World energy: Looking ahead to COP27

18 October 2022

Our Think WIDER Webinar Series - New perspectives on domestic revenue mobilization continues with a presentation and a panel discussion on World energy: Looking ahead to COP27.

Lecture | Sustainable Cities Discussion Forum on SDG4

in partnership with City of Helsinki, 26 October 2022

Join us for the second event in our Sustainable Cities Discussion Forum series, as we discuss SDG 4: Quality Education. Hosted by the City of Helsinki and UNU-WIDER, this two-day event is organised in collaboration with the HundrED Innovation Summit.

Presentation | This house blames western lenders for the plight of developing countries

3 November 2022

Kunal Sen attends the prestigious Oxford Union debate on the motion ‘This House Blames Western Lenders for the Plight of Developing Countries’.

SEMINAR

Gindo Tampubolon on Social injustice under climate shocks to persons with disability

Gindo Tampubolon presents at the WIDER Seminar Series on 12 October 2022.

SEMINAR

Arjan Verschoor on Boosting recycling behaviour among urban households in Peru

Arjan Verschoor presents at the WIDER Seminar Series on 25 October 2022.

SEMINAR

Giulia Mascagni on Tax compliance in Rwanda: evidence from two large scale field experiments

Giulia Mascagni presents at the WIDER Seminar Series on 26 October 2022.

Working Papers

Working Paper

On data and trends in horizontal inequality

by Carla Canelas

Working Paper

PROCEDE: a failed programme to reduce poverty and inequalities in Mexico

by Ana de Ita

Working Paper

Inclusion amid ethnic inequality: Insights from Brazil’s social protection system

by Natasha Borges Sugiyama

Working Paper

The politics of affirmative action: ethnicity, equity, and state-business relations in Malaysia

by Edmund Terence Gomez

Working Paper

Revealing 21 per cent of GDP in hidden assets: Evidence from Argentina’s tax amnesties

by Juliana Londoño-Vélez and Dario Tortarolo

Working Paper

Employer power and employment in developing countries

by Nancy H. Chau, Ravi Kanbur and Vidhya Soundararajan

Working Paper

Aid, taxes, and government spending: A heterogeneous co-integrated panel analysis

by Abrams M.E. Tagem

Working Paper

Inequality and human development: The role of different parts of the income distribution

by David Castells-Quintana, Carlos Gradín and Vicente Royuela

Working Paper

The COVID-19 pandemic and poor women’s agency: A case of domestic workers in Delhi

by Deepita Chakravarty and Nandini Nayak

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