Blog
Studying COVID-19 through the lens of microsimulation: The role of tax and benefit policies in alleviating poverty and inequality
As the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, developing nations are struggling to deliver economic assistance and public services to their...
Blog
Late development, early adoption – how new technology is reshaping the future of structural change
by
Lukas Schlogl
December 2020
Technological catch-up is bringing new asynchronies to development pathways. What does this mean for employment, globalization, and inequality? A...
Blog
The developer’s dilemma in India – the role of politics and economic ideology
by
Saon Ray, Sabyasachi Kar
December 2020
Policy makers seeking inclusive growth frequently face the developer’s dilemma between prioritizing structural transformation, which is potentially...
Blog
35 years of research for change – what's next?: Building just societies
To celebrate its 35th birthday, UNU-WIDER has looked back at some of its greatest achievements. As the year closes, Armida Alisjahbana, Kunal Sen...
Blog
New WIID Companion to improve the study of inequality
by
Carlos Gradín
April 2021
There is a growing need to understand income inequality trends and how they interplay with other social, economic, and political outcomes, both at the...
Blog
35 years of research for change: Bringing inequality to the fore (1998-2020)
UNU-WIDER released the world’s first estimates of the global wealth distribution in 2007 – one result of a 2004–05 project, ‘Personal Assets from a...
Research Brief
Does exchange rate volatility amplify existing inequalities in South Africa?
Even though poverty and inequality have been of overriding concern in South Africa’s development policies and programmes since its democratization in 1994, measures of poverty, inequality, and related phenomena in the country do not show a clear...
Working Paper
The social psychology of economic inequality
In this review, I provide an overview of the literature investigating the social psychology of economic inequality, focusing on individuals’ understandings, perceptions, and reactions to inequality. I begin by describing different ways of measuring...
Working Paper
Promoting education under distortionary taxation
How does the public provision of education and the deployment of distortionary tax and subsidy instruments differ when the government’s objective is conventional welfarist compared to when the objective is the non-welfarist one of equality of...
Working Paper
Financing the Zambia social cash transfer scale-up
This paper assesses the effects on poverty and inequality of the alternative targeting approaches that Zambia’s Social Cash Transfer programme could take as its expansion continues during the period of the country’s Seventh National Development Plan...
Working Paper
Snakes and ladders and loaded dice
Longitudinal surveys can give insight into economic mobility, which allows us to understand how markers of (dis)advantage are consequential in determining material conditions in the present, and how these markers structure economic opportunity over...
Working Paper
A new inequality estimate for urban India?
This paper applies a novel inequality estimation method to household consumption expenditure in Mumbai, India. Since the richest households may be missing in survey data, this re-estimated inequality figure takes them into account by combining survey...
Blog
Measuring inequality in middle-income countries
Income inequality is the result of complex processes with multiple interacting driving forces but understanding those drivers in emerging economies is...
Blog
Why are workers getting a smaller share of the cake in Mexico?
by
Carlos A. Ibarra, Jaime Ros
February 2019
As with many other developed and emerging economies, in recent decades Mexico has experienced a long-term decline in the labour income share. In other...
Working Paper
The effect of real exchange rate volatility on income distribution in South Africa
This study investigates the effect of real exchange rate volatility on the distribution of income between labour and capital in South Africa. Both symmetric and asymmetric effects are considered. Using quarterly data for 1985:1–2018:3 and local...
Working Paper
Inequality in India
This paper contributes to the literature by reviewing levels, trends, and structure of inequality since the early 1990s in India. It draws extensively on the existing literature, supplemented with analyses of multiple data sources, to paint a picture...
Blog
Research that matters: A report from the stakeholder workshop - 15 November 2018, Pretoria, South Africa
I found myself in the third-floor conference rooms of a Pretoria hotel for a meeting with economists, researchers, and policymakers involved in the SA...
Working Paper
The effect of top incomes on inequality in South Africa
South Africa exhibits extreme levels of income inequality and is ranked as one of the most unequal countries in the world. In order to measure these severe levels of inequality, it matters how we account for the different parts of the income...
Working Paper
A macroeconomic perspective on Asian development
Macroeconomic strategies and policies have differed significantly among Asian countries over the last fifty years, and yet some common issues recur despite their immense diversity in inherited historical initial conditions, differences in political...
Working Paper
On the political and social consequences of economic inequality
This paper investigates the impact of inequality on individual civic engagement at the community level, whether this impact persists over time, and what mechanisms may shape the relationship between inequality and civic engagement. The results show...
Research Brief
A game of snakes and ladders with loaded dice
South Africa is often cited as the most unequal economy in the world. Its experience of having to overcome both colonialism and apartheid makes it unique from the vantage of studies on socioeconomic class, economic mobility, and poverty — with...
Presentation
Measuring Inequality in the 21st Century
The Human Development Report Office, LIS, the Stone Center at the City University of New York (CUNY), UNU-WIDER and the World Inequality Lab will host a symposium on Measuring Inequality in the 21st Century. The 2-day event will be held 28-29 March...
Thu, 28 March 2019
–
Fri, 29 March 2019
United Nations Headquarters ,
New York,
United States
Past event
Panel discussion
Open dialogue on inequality in the 21st century
Fri, 29 March 2019
Ex-Press Bar, Third Floor of the General Assembly, United Nations Headquarters,
1st Avenue at 46th Street,
New York,
United States
Past event
Panel discussion
Accelerating progress towards fairer societies
Wed, 4 October 2023
United Nations Headquarters, Room CR 11,
405 E 45th St,
New York, New York,
United States
Past event
Panel discussion
Accelerating progress towards decent work and fairer societies – joint event with ESCAP
Tue, 26 September 2023
ESCAP, CR-4, UNCC,
Rajadamnern Nok Avenue Khwaeng Bang Khun Phrom, Phra Nakhon,
Bangkok,
Thailand
Past event
Panel discussion
Unpacking the developer's dilemma – panel discussion at ISID
Fri, 24 February 2023
Vasant Kunj Institutional Area,
New Delhi,
India
Past event
Panel discussion
UNU-WIDER at ISA 2022 Annual Convention
UNU-WIDER Senior Research Fellow Patricia Justino and Research Associate Rute Martins Caeiro join in a virtual panel discussion Trust and Governance in Unstable Democracies on 29 March 2022 14:00 - 15:30 (UTC-5) as part of the International Studies...
Tue, 29 March 2022
Online,
Nashville,
United States
Past event
Project workshop
Inequality and governance in unstable democracies – the mediating role of trust: 2nd Annual Workshop
More than 30 participants attended the 2nd annual workshop for ‘Trust and Governance’ project, held virtually on the 16th and 17th April 2020. The workshop was initially set to be held in Colombia but had to be moved to a virtual environment through...
Thu, 16 April 2020
–
Fri, 17 April 2020
Virtual (Zoom),
Past event
Programme
Conference programme: Reducing inequality – the great challenge of our time
Programme for Reducing inequality – the great challenge of our time To watch the videos from the sessions at the conference, watch our playlist here. Spanish version of the programme here. *CEC indicates that this session is part of the VII Colombian...
Seminar
Erwin Bulte on participatory resource management, elite capture and local livelihoods
Wed, 18 December 2019
UNU-WIDER,
Katajanokanlaituri 6 B,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Lecture
Economic development in Asia: Learning from a half-century of transformations
Wed, 13 November 2019
IIES, A822,
Universitetsvägen 10, 114 18 ,
Stockholm,
Sweden
Past event
Presentation
Deepak Nayyar Resurgent Asia - Diversity in Development
Fri, 15 November 2019
Ministry of Interior, meeting room Kruunu,
Kirkkokatu 12,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Conference
Reducing inequality – the great challenge of our time
Wed, 5 October 2022
–
Fri, 7 October 2022
Universidad de los Andes,
Carrera 1, Calle 18a,
Bogotá,
Colombia
Past event
Working Paper
Measuring multidimensional inequality of opportunity
This paper develops a normative approach to the measurement of ex-ante inequality of opportunity in a multidimensional setting—that is, when the individual outcome is represented by a multidimensional variable. We characterize three classes of social...
Blog
Why is inequality in South Africa higher than in Germany?: Explaining income distributions with ‘decompositions’
by
Carlos Gradín
March 2020
The understanding of inequality requires the analysis of changes in income distributions across countries and over time as well as the identification...
Blog
UNU-WIDER at 35: Letter from the Director
2020 promised to be a big year for UNU-WIDER, with the celebration of our 35th anniversary, the 45th birthday of UNU, and 75 years of the UN. But as...
Journal Article
Snakes and ladders and loaded dice
Longitudinal surveys allow us to understand how markers of (dis)advantage determine present material welfare and economic upward or downward mobility over time. In this paper, we use five waves of panel data to empirically assess the extent and...
Blog
Virtuous circles and downward spirals: The power of ideas & the limits of technocracy
by
Brian Levy
November 2021
What will it take to shake loose the distemper of our times, and initiate a virtuous spiral of renewal? In a recent UNU-WIDER webinar, Alan Hirsch and...
Blog
Urban poverty: cities, slums, and the need for policy action
by
Emily Rains, Anirudh Krishna
October 2022
Developing countries will be predominantly urban by 2030. While urbanization is historically associated with development and broad-based social...
Blog
Sunshine, elephants, and boomerangs: Is a dramatic rise in global income inequality looming?
Global Inequality 101: Global inequality is the distribution of income across all people on the planet from the poorest to the richest. It can be...
Journal Article
Promoting education under distortionary taxation
A common claim in the policy discourse is that a government wishing to achieve equality of opportunity should use public provision of education for equalisation of opportunities rather than income taxation, which only equalizes incomes. We develop a...
Working Paper
Inequality and voting in fragile countries
The political consequences of economic inequality have been debated in academic and policy circles for centuries. The nature of this relationship seems highly dependent on specific contexts, with empirical studies showing mixed evidence on how...
Seminar
SA-TIED seminar on pension-related tax expenditures
On 03 May the SA-TIED programme will host an online seminar on pension-related tax expenditures. The presentation will be given by Agustin Redonda and Chris Axelson under the SA-TIED project work stream on Public revenue for inclusive development...
Mon, 3 May 2021
Online,
Pretoria,
South Africa
Past event
Presentation
SOUTHMOD presented at the IAB seminar series
The Institute for Employment Research (IAB) is hosting an online seminar series "Corona - leveler or amplifier of social and economic inequality?". The weekly seminar series aims to bring together empirically rigorous contributions from the fields of...
Wed, 19 May 2021
Online,
Nuremberg,
Germany
Past event
Project
Reconciling Africa’s growth, poverty and inequality trends: growth and poverty project (GAPP)
Theme: 2012-13
Despite decades of research and advances in data and methods, measuring poverty and reconciling this with patterns of economic growth remains a complex and contentious issue. UNU-WIDER’s Growth and Poverty Project (GAPP) re-examines Africa’s growth...
Project meeting
Kick-off meeting – Gender and Development project
Wed, 6 May 2015
–
Thu, 7 May 2015
UNU-WIDER,
Katajanokanlaituri 6 b,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Policy workshop
Labour market inequality and intergenerational mobility
UNU-WIDER hosts an inception workshop on labour market inequality and intergenerational mobility part of the new inequality theme as part of our current 2024–27 work programme. On 16 April 2024, we host a collaborative brainstorming session that...
Tue, 16 April 2024
Hybrid,
Katajanokanlaituri 6 B,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Panel discussion
Asian Transformations panel discussion at India International Centre
On 23 December, Professor Deepak Nayyar, editor of Asian Transformations, led a panel discussion on the recent publication at the India International Centre in New Delhi. The book, Asian Transformations: An Inquiry into the Development of Nations...
Mon, 23 December 2019
India International Centre,
Lodhi Road,
New Delhi,
India
Past event
Lecture
Delhi School of Economics lecture on economic development in Asia, by Deepak Nayyar
On 14 January Professor Deepak Nayyar will attend the Delhi School of Economics to give a lecture on ‘Economic development in Asia: Learning from half a century of transformation’. The lecture draws from his recently published book, Resurgent Asia...
Tue, 14 January 2020
Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics,
Delhi,
India
Past event
Lecture
Deepak Nayyar lecture at LSE on Resurgent Asia
The lecture will analyse the phenomenal transformation of Asia, which would have been difficult to imagine, let alone predict, fifty years ago. In doing so, it provides an analytical narrative of this remarkable story of economic development...
Wed, 4 March 2020
LSE Lecture Theatre, Centre Building, LSE,
1 Charing Cross,
Westminster, London,
United Kingdom
Past event
Panel discussion
A UNU-WIDER special panel on inequality — measurement, implications, and influencing change
Fri, 28 February 2020
House of Science and Letters,
Kirkkokatu 6,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Video
Amartya Sen: Feminism is an issue of humanity
“I think gender inequality is not the natural human condition. But the idea that somehow women have to be in an inferior position – or not quite such dominant position – is really wholly artificial for me” says Amartya Sen. He continues by delving...
Lecture
Global personal economic inequality and population dynamics
Presentation For more information on this lecture series, please refer to Critical Academy. UNU-WIDER WIID The UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality Database (WIID) collects and stores information on income inequality for developed, developing, and...
Tue, 19 November 2013
University of Helsinki,
Yliopistonkatu 4,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
Presentation
@Equal project disseminates findings at the 2024 Nordic Conference for Development Economics
Researchers with The impact of inequality on growth, human development, and governance – @EQUAL project present their WIDER Working Papers at the 2024 Nordic Conference for Development Economics in Copenhagen, Denmark. Full programme Presentations...
Mon, 17 June 2024
–
Tue, 18 June 2024
Finland
Past event
Project workshop
New insights on inequality and economic transformation – Revisiting the Kuznets Curve at 70
Thu, 12 September 2024
–
Fri, 13 September 2024
UNU-WIDER,
Katajanokkanlaituri 6 B,
Helsinki, Finland,
Finland
Past event
Policy seminar
Rising income inequality: trends - and measures to prevent and reverse it
ILO, UNCTAD, and UNU-WIDER invite interested professionals to the policy seminar on ‘Rising income inequality: trends, and measures to prevent and reverse it’. The last decade has witnessed a revival of concern over the impact of high-income...
Thu, 23 October 2014
Room IX, International Labour Organization,
Route des Morillons 4,
Geneva,
Switzerland
Past event
Project
Social protection in the Global South
Theme: Equality
There has been a rapid advancement of social protection this century. From the early successes and popularity of conditional cash transfers and social grants at supporting social goals, such as poverty reduction and expanded access to universal...
Project workshop
Climate change, inequality, and environmental tax policies
UNU-WIDER convenes a group of researchers and experts to review work in progress and chart a path forward on global research into climate change and inequality in Global South countries. The one-day workshop aims to unite research agendas on the...
Thu, 21 November 2024
UNU-WIDER,
Katajanokanlaituri 6 B,
Helsinki,
Finland
Past event
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