Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser

August 2024

WIDER Annual Lecture | The billionaire tax – a (modest) proposal for the 21st century | Gabriel Zucman | Register now!

4 September 2024, Online and in-person at Aalto University, Juhlasali in the Töölö building, Runeberginkatu 14–16, Helsinki

As recent projections warn that we’re off-track to reduce inequality for the 2030 deadline of the Sustainable Development Goals, the pressing need for equitable tax systems takes center stage at the 28th WIDER Annual Lecture. Esteemed economist Gabriel Zucman examines how disparities of current tax structures guarantee this inequality is persistent due to advantages enjoyed by the ultra-wealthy.

Blogs

New estimates of the cost of ending poverty – What does it mean and how much would it cost?

by Andy Sumner and Arief Anshory Yusuf

In a new UNU-WIDER paper, which provides background for this year’s OECD Development Cooperation Report, we take a closer look at the end of poverty, what it really means, what it would cost, and how a new approach can improve the tailoring of development cooperation to different contexts.

From billions to trillions – can the international financing for development system deliver this?

by Betty N. Wainaina

It is surreal, sitting on this side of history. Many who were involved in shaping the 2030 global development agenda recall the intense process and the renewed optimism sparked by collective action, especially with the adoption of controversial goals like SDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions. Yet, as 2030 approaches, we are off track in achieving the SDGs, facing an estimated annual shortfall of USD 4 trillion in necessary financing.

What happens when you tax the rich?

by Christopher Axelson, Jukka Pirttilä, Antonia Hohmann, Roxanne Raabe, and Nadine Riedel

South Africa faces a dual challenge of limited fiscal space—the need to raise sufficient revenues to finance public services—and high levels of inequality. One possible solution is to raise tax rates on the rich. If successful, such reforms could increase revenues and mitigate income inequalities.

Strategic philanthropy – a guide for billionaires seeking impact

by Anna Toppari

Where should billionaires spend their money if they want to make a positive difference? I spoke to the experts in our network and took a look at recent UN flagship reports to gain insights into this critical question.

Remembering Giovanni Andrea Cornia

by Bruno Martorano

It was with great sadness that we received the news of Giovanni Andrea Cornia’s passing on 10 July 2024. Giovanni Andrea Cornia was Honorary Professor of Economics at the University of Florence, where he taught for more than 15 years. He was formerly the Director of UNU-WIDER, Director of the Economic and Social Policy Research Programme at UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, and Chief Economist at UNICEF Headquarters.

In appreciation of Giovanni Andrea Cornia

by Tony Addison

I first met Andrea some 40 years ago, in 1985, when he invited me to a conference at UNICEF in New York on ‘Adjustment with a Human Face’, a highly influential project led by Andrea (then Chief Economist of UNICEF), Richard Jolly, and Frances Stewart, and subsequently published in two volumes by Oxford University Press.

Annual Lecture Brief | The billionaire tax – a (modest) proposal for the 21st century

by Gabriel Zucman

A proposed 2% wealth tax on billionaires could raise USD 200–250 billion annually from about 3,000 taxpayers, extending the tax to those worth USD 100 million or more would raise an additional USD 100–140 billion.

NEWS

OECD releases 2024 Development Co-operation Report with two chapters from UNU-WIDER

20 August 2024 – UNU-WIDER contributed two critical chapters to the OECD Development Co-operation Report 2024: Tackling Poverty and Inequalities through the Green Transition (DCR). The report provides new evidence and analysis to the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), comprising 32 of the largest official development assistance (ODA) providers in the world. For 60 years, the annual report has informed the international development policy, programming, and international aid financing practices...

In memoriam – Professor Giovanni Andrea Cornia

With a heavy heart, we mourn the loss of Giovanni Andrea Cornia, Director of UNU-WIDER from 1995 to 1999, who passed away on 10 July 2024. His tenure, though brief, was marked by innovation and helped steer the Institute through the challenges of the early 1990s. His leadership did not focus on balancing the three missions of research, capacity building, and policy bridging separately but instead integrated these aspects, aiming to make a positive impact on the lives of the world’s poorest people.

WIDER Working Papers

Working Paper

New estimates of the cost of ending poverty and its global distribution

by Andy Sumner and Arief Anshory Yusuf

Working Paper

Quid pro quo: how the wartime economy shapes the violent contestation of the state after war

by Laura Saavedra-Lux

Working Paper

Statebuilding in fragile countries: What can we learn from past stateness?

by Andrea Vaccaro and Rachel M. Gisselquist

Working Paper

From empire to aid: Analysing persistence of colonial legacies in foreign aid to Africa

by Swetha Ramachandran

Working Paper

Affirmative action around the world: insights from a new dataset (update)

by Rachel M. Gisselquist, Min Jung Kim, Simone Schotte, and Chinmayi Srikanth

Working Paper

Surviving in the dark: the mortality effects of reducing rolling blackouts

by Joshua Budlender

Events

Cambridge Elements Development Economis series

SA-TIED Policy Dialogue | Smart Taxation – Raising Revenue and Reducing Inequality in South Africa

30 August 2024

Join us for a policy dialogue where leading experts will explore South Africa's Personal Income Tax (PIT) system. This discussion will focus on the impact of recent PIT reforms on taxpayer behaviour, revenue collection, and inequality. Panelists will draw on their expertise and...

Gabriel Zucman on Taxing capital in a globalized world: the effects of automatic information exchange

5 September 2024

In the second half of the 2010s more than 100 countries—including all large offshore financial centers—started to automatically exchange bank information with foreign tax authorities. This informational big-bang marks a break with the situation of offshore bank secrecy that prevailed before. We study its effects on tax compliance by...

Laura Saavedra-Lux presents at the KIEL-CEPR African Economic Development Conference

12 September 2024

Laura Saavedra-Lux, Research Associate at UNU-WIDER, presents her working paper on the connections of foreign direct investment and conflicts at the conference on African economic development (AEDC), organized by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Ben d’Exelle on Climate change, intimate partner violence, and fertility

18 September 2024

Climate change increases the frequency of weather extremes. Combining DHS data and historical weather data from three continents, we look at the impact of local temperature and rainfall deviations from 10-year averages on the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the desired fertility of men and women.

UNU-WIDER at the Fragile Lives 2024 conference – Households in Conflict Network 20 years

1–2 October 2024

Households in Conflict Network celebrates its 20th anniversary during the conference Fragile Lives 2024 on 1–2 October in Berlin. UNU-WIDER Deputy Director Patricia Justino, one of the founders and directors of the network, hosts a keynote panel at the conference. UNU-WIDER Research Associate Laura Saavedra-Lux presents her ongoing research.

OPPORTUNITIES

Call for papers | WIDER Development Conference: Safeguarding tomorrow – innovative approaches to growth and equity

UNU-WIDER seeks paper submissions for the 2025 WIDER Development Conference. Over the past two decades, social protection programmes have become a widespread policy tool to reduce poverty and food insecurity in low- and middle-income countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, social safety net programmes providing cash or in-kind transfers have more than tripled since the turn of the millennium. Social protection is an important tool to achieve many SDGs, such as No Poverty, No Hunger, and Reduced Inequalities. This call for papers seeks proposals for innovative research contributions that speak to...

Submission deadline: 15 September 2024.

Vacancy | Information Technology Associate (GS-6)

UNU-WIDER is hiring an Information Technology Associate in Helsinki, Finland. As Information Technology Associate you will play a pivotal role in enhancing UNU-WIDER’s web presence, streamlining organizational processes through digital tools, and providing essential operational support.

Submission deadline: 22 September 2024.

	UNU-WIDER \| Subscribe
	Finland