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January 2025

UNU-WIDER at 40: The power of shared knowledge

In 2025, UNU-WIDER marks 40 years of advancing transformative research and bridging the gap between evidence and policy to address some of the world’s most pressing development challenges. The 40th anniversary theme, The power of shared knowledge, celebrates the institute’s dedication to knowledge generation to inform policies in a world increasingly challenged by misinformation.

Blogs

Celebrating 40 Years of UNU-WIDER

by Kunal Sen

In 2025, UNU-WIDER completes four decades of work. Starting as a small think-tank in relatively remote Helsinki, it has grown into a global institute, with a network of scholars and practitioners that spans the globe.

A Vulnerable Lives Survey (VLS) enumerator walking through the neighborhoods of Monapo with a local guide, Nampula Province (Photo: IGM)

Magicians, powerbrokers, and workhorses –
the keys to structural transformation in African cities

by Kunal Sen

Around the world, we tend to see urbanization and structural transformation happening together—as countries urbanize, productive jobs are created in manufacturing and services. But while sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing considerable urbanization (and driving global urban expansion), the structural transformation that we would...

Is poverty really declining again? What falling poverty doesn’t tell us

by Göran Holmqvist

After a temporary increase in 2020 due to COVID-19, global extreme income poverty is reportedly falling again, according to World Bank estimates. However, undernourishment is rising, and the number of people in need of humanitarian aid has nearly quadrupled since 2015. How is this seemingly contradictory picture to be understood? And what does it mean for donor policies?

people walking on street during night time, photo by David Emrich on Unsplash

Opinion: It’s time to prioritize ethical practices in global development research

by Amina Ebrahim, Maria Jouste, and Kelly Brito Salas

As the development community rethinks how to improve the lives of people in low- and middle-income countries, so too must researchers and research funders. Unequal academic partnerships and weak data protection are undermining the quality of research and harming the welfare of communities and research collaborators. For far too long...

NEWS

New book lays out path for green growth from extractive industries in low-income countries

A new open-access book titled Resources Matter: Ending Poverty while Protecting Nature, by Tony Addison and Alan Roe, has been published by Oxford University Press. The book provides critical insights into the complex relationship between natural resource extraction and sustainable development.

UNU-WIDER at the 2025 Dialogue on Public Finance and the SDGs

29 January 2025 | UNU-WIDER is hosting a session on Data and Statistics for Development-focused Public Finance with UNDP, UNDESA, and TaxDev at the 2025 Dialogue on Public Finance and the SDGs. The Dialogue is taking place on 29-31 January 2025 at Columbia University in New York, US.

EVENTS

WIDER Seminar Series | Sampreet Singh Goraya on Climate change, firms, and aggregate productivity

5 February 2025

His paper uses a general equilibrium framework to examine the effects of temperature on firm-level demand, productivity, and input allocation efficiency, deriving an aggregate damage function for climate change. Using data from Italian firms and detailed climate data, it uncovers a sizable negative effect of extreme temperatures on firm-level productivity and revenue-based marginal product of capital.

Helsinki Symposium on reform of the International Financial Architecture

26 March 2025

Reform of the international financial architecture (IFA) is a key policy demand made by developing countries, as reflected in the discussions leading to the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024. However, there is limited consensus on which solutions can work in reforming the IFA as well as being acceptable to key stakeholders (such as China and the US). UNU-WIDER is holding a one-day symposium..

UNU-WIDER 40th Anniversary Reception | The power of shared knowledge

27 March 2025

In 2025, it is 40 years since UNU-WIDER opened its doors. To mark this milestone, UNU-WIDER organizes a reception in Helsinki to celebrate the Institute with key stakeholders from its network in Finland.

Publications

Cambridge Elements Development Economis series

Book | Resources Matter: Ending Poverty while Protecting Nature

by Tony Addison and Alan R. Roe

Almost everything that is essential to modern society...depends upon metals, minerals, and stone as well as oil and natural gas which provide the energy for households and businesses and transport as well as widely-used materials such as plastics. The global economy has come to increasingly rely on mining and oil and gas extraction in the developing world. Poorer nations see extractive industries as vital to their prospects for greater prosperity but these industries are highly controversial not least in their impact on nature and the climate. This book explores the opportunities as well as the dilemmas.

Book | How States Respond to Crisis: Pandemic Governance Across the Global South

by Rachel M. Gisselquist and Andrea Vaccaro

BOOK IN PRODUCTION | SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 2025
We expect the state to matter in times of crisis to better provide for and protect their populations. But how is it, precisely, that the quality of the state matters? This book speaks to this question through comparative study of how diverse states in the Global South responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest global crisis in recent memory.

Sewing at the Wawoto Kacel Workshop in Uganda. Photo by Ugandan Crafts on Unsplash / Chris Lutanga & ITC

Journal Article | Encouraging micro-enterprises to prepare for disasters: A socio-psychological and information-provision analysis for the case of Mozambique

by Hanna Berkel and Finn Tarp

Journal | International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

Worldwide, enterprises are affected by disasters such as cyclones and floods. Despite these negative impacts, many do not prepare for future disasters. Research on pro-environmental behavior suggests that...

Journal Article | Bridging the gap: unveiling the potential of Tanzania’s SMEs through VAT insights

by Amina Ebrahim et al.

Journal | CESifo Economic Studies

The collection of value added tax (VAT) is essential for achieving domestic revenue objectives, yet VAT gap estimation is rarely performed in developing countries. This study utilizes innovative tax declaration and audit data to estimate VAT misreporting in Tanzania...

WIDER Working Papers

Working Paper

Can social assistance reduce violent conflict and civil unrest? Evidence from a large-scale public works programme in Ethiopia

by Kalle Hirvonen, Elia Machado, and Andrew M. Simons

Working Paper

The gendered effects of climate shocks on labour and welfare in Zambia

by Alessandra Hidalgo-Arestegui et. al.

Working Paper

Raindrop in the drought? Vulnerability to climate shocks and the role of social protection in Zambia

by Katrin Gasior, Pia Rattenhuber, Adnan Abdulaziz Shahir, and Anna Zasova

Working Paper

Is a move up the job ladder an escape from poverty?

by Samuel Ampaw, Michael Danquah, Rajesh Raj Natarajan, and Kunal Sen

Working Paper

The role of social assistance in African crises: a systematic literature review

by Kalle Hirvonen, Patricia Justino, and Rodrigo Oliveira

Working Paper

Work permits for refugees as social protection during polycrises–Evidence from refugees in Jordan during the COVID-19 pandemic

by Wolfgang Stojetz et. al.

Working Paper

Carbon pricing and taxation–A review of approaches and development implications

by Jodie Keane, Hazel Granger, Prachi Agarwal, and Maximiliano Mendez-Parra

Working Paper

Distributional impacts of global food price shocks in South Africa–Case of Russian-Ukraine conflict

by Faaiqa Hartley and Sherwin Gabriel

Working Paper

The firm-wage gender gap and formal sector churn over the life cycle

by Ihsaan Bassier and Leila Gautham

OPPORTUNITIES

Request for research proposals | Research using administrative tax data from Uganda

UNU-WIDER, in collaboration with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), is requesting research proposals for the Tax research for development project. Proposals are requested for original research using URA administrative tax data to improve the understanding of tax systems, trade, employment, and revenue productivity in the Global South. Proposals from individuals (or groups of individuals) and non-profit organizations are welcome. Submission Deadline 28 February 2025, 23:59 UTC+2.

Vacancy | Communications and Project Assistant (PSA), Maputo, Mozambique

UNU-WIDER is hiring a Communications and Project Assistant (PSA) based in Maputo, Mozambique. As Communications and Project Assistant you will support the implementation of the Inclusive growth in Mozambique (IGM) programme. Submission deadline: 23 February 2025, 23:59 UTC+2.

From the network | Call for Papers – Annual Conference of the Human Development and Capabilities Association

Submission deadline: 18 February 2025. We welcome papers and panel proposals from scholars, researchers, and practitioners. Such proposals are expected to be original contributions that resonate with the central themes of this conference. We are particularly looking for submissions in 6 categories...

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