New directions in development economics

This project acts as an instrument for UNU-WIDER to conduct small-scale projects or studies on topics of immediate policy importance that deserve a swift and critical response; to experiment with the application of new analytical techniques to development issues, and to build new research ideas that may then constitute the basis of larger projects in the main programme. Small projects may include empirical evaluation of development insights; trade reform and employment; development economics and public policy; poverty measurement and inequality.

Team

Focal point: Finn Tarp

Communications: Annett Victorero

161 articles, publications, projects, experts...

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    Professor Tarp has four decades of experience in academic and applied development economics research and teaching. His field experience covers more than two decades of in-country work in 35 countries across Africa and the developing world more...

    Journal Article
    Labor-use efficiency in Tunisian manufacturing industries

    This paper investigates the process of adjustment in employment. A dynamic model is applied to a panel of six Tunisian manufacturing industries observed over a period of 25 years, from 1971 to 1996. Industries are assumed to adjust their labor inputs...

    Journal Article
    Estimating labour supply elasticities based on cross-country micro data

    The Nordic model relies on high tax rates to finance an extensive welfare state. If labour supply elasticities are large, the burden of financing the model can be large even if, arguably, the practice of providing subsidised goods that support labour...

    Journal Article
    How should commodities be taxed?

    The Mirrlees Review recommends that commodity taxation should in general be uniform, but with some goods consumed in conjunction with labour supply (such as child care) left untaxed. This article examines the validity of this claim in an optimal...

    Journal Article
    The Welfare Effects of Health-based Food Tax Policy

    This paper examines the effects of health-oriented food tax reforms on the distribution of tax payments, food demand and health outcomes. We offer an illustration of how one can take into account the uncertainty related to both demand estimation and...

    Journal Article
    Can Cities or Towns Drive African Development?

    Rapid urbanization is an important characteristic of African development and yet the structural transformation debate focuses on agriculture’s relative merits without also considering the benefits from urban agglomeration. As a result, African...

    Journal Article
    Technology Adoption and Food Security in Subsistence Agriculture

    This paper evaluates the impact of an intervention to improve farming techniques and food security in the Gaza area of rural Mozambique. We examine the impact of a group-based approach to technology adoption in subsistence agriculture, using panel...

    Journal Article
    Optimum Reserve Size, Fishing Induced Change in Carrying Capacity, and Phenotypic Diversity

    Fish stocks around the world are heavily overexploited in spite of fishing policies in several parts of the world designed to limit overfishing. Recent studies have found that the complexity of ecological systems and the diversity of species, as well...

    Journal Article
    Public Provision, Commodity Demand, and Hours of Work

    The theoretical analysis of optimal commodity taxation is advanced, but there is only limited empirical evidence to guide commodity tax policies. With this paper, we contribute to this body of literature by empirically examining, using Finnish...

    Working Paper
    The Idea of Economic Development

    Although development generally refers to a broad concept, the quest for development in Sub-Saharan Africa has been biased by ideological considerations which made abstraction of local conditions and people’s aspirations. The prevalent development...

    Working Paper
    Regulatory Reform for Closing Africa’s Competitiveness Gap

    Over the past decade, Africa has been experiencing an economic resurgence. Yet, the continent is facing several difficult challenges and many economies of the region continue to be among the least competitive in the world. Africa’s competitiveness is...

    Working Paper
    Social Transfers and Growth

    The effects of social transfers on growth are still unclear. The limitations of aggregated data at sub-national levels have confined the analysis to the use of simulation models and household surveys. As an alternative, this paper contributes to the...

    Working Paper
    The Economics of Marriage in North Africa

    Marriage is the single most important economic transaction and social transition in the lives of young people. Yet little is known about the economics of marriage in much of the developing world. This paper examines the economics of marriage in North...

    Working Paper
    Innovation Capabilities for Sustainable Development in Africa

    A sustainable pathway for Africa in the twenty-first century is laid out in the setting of the development of innovation capabilities and the capture of latecomer advantages. Africa has missed out on these possibilities in the twentieth century while...

    Working Paper
    The Theory and Practice of Agriculture, Growth, and Development in Africa

    Africa’s improved growth performance over the last 15 years provides an opportunity for the continent to transit from recovery to structural transformation. This paper reviews the evolution of development theory and practice, the role of agriculture...

    Working Paper
    The Economics of Happiness and Anger in North Africa

    Economics has rediscovered happiness even though the discipline has always been about human wellbeing. A growing evidence suggests that happier people can be more productive and innovative, which leads to profitability and economic growth. Thus...

    Displaying 16 of 161 results

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    Main subject

    Theme: Past, 2010-11

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