The project will deliver new and sharper insights into alternate forms of structural transformation, and the policy implications they carry for socioeconomic development. The work will provide a key benchmark for studying and understanding structural transformation which moves beyond mainstream perspectives on development, to inform and guide policy makers on the possibilities of the different roads to structural transformation.
A key output of the project will be a book addressing theoretical, empirical and policy implications of the pathways to structural transformation, drawing on data from Africa, Asia, and Latin America of the Economic Transformation Database, the successor of the GGDC 10-sector database.
Using the stylized facts of structural transformation as a starting point, the analysis will revisit both classical and more recent approaches to structural transformation to see how well they can explain the patterns observed in structurally underdeveloped economies. The analysis will also examine what drives structural transformations, as well as how structural transformation relates to economic growth, inequality, and poverty reduction.
All working papers, events, briefs, blog posts, and opportunities to engage relating to the project will be made available on this webpage.
The research will address Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth; Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure; and Goal 10: Reduced inequalities.
Focal point: Kunal Sen
Project support: Jutta Stenholm
Communications: Ruby Richardson
Using a unique district-level panel dataset, we investigate the effect of banking system penetration on financial inclusion in Ghana. To purge potential endogeneity bias in the underlying relationship, we exploit a change in the policy environment of...
The documented under-representation of marginalized groups in business ownership and the labour market is a concerning issue. This study explores how caste disparities in small-firm entrepreneurship impact on firm performance in India, focusing on...
Two well established stylized facts of economic development are a strong correlation between investment and income, and large differences in investment rates across countries. Construction is the largest component of investment. This paper examines...
UNU-WIDER’s 6-week online course on delivering Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) brings together recent research on the linkages between economic...
When India became a republic in 1950, the economy was primarily agrarian, with three-fifths of output originating from agriculture. In the sixty years since independence, there has been a significant transformation of economic activity away from...
The structure employed is a small open economy, with one city and a rural hinterland, two traded goods, a transport sector, two specific factors, and mobile labour. A socially profitable programme will promote not only internal, but also external...
This article provides empirical evidence on the impact of digitalisation on product upgrading in global value chains (GVCs). Analysis is done for a sample of Indian manufacturing GVC firms in the period 2001–15 from the firm-level database Prowess...
In recent decades, Africa has received a large share of official development assistance compared to other regions of the world. Using AidData for 2000–13, this paper examines the effects of aid to productive sectors on manufacturing growth in Africa...
We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Kenya’s foreign trade using quarterly trade data for the period 2019 to the second quarter of 2021. The exploratory analysis shows that growth of Kenya’s merchandise exports remained resilient...
The role of exports in promoting economic growth has been widely acknowledged. This paper analyses the link between exports, imports, and growth performance in Kenya using time series data. Despite trade liberalization and export promotion policies...
Using a nationally representative household survey data set from Ghana, this paper provides empirical evidence regarding the role of financial inclusion or financial exclusion in household welfare. We first compute a multidimensional index of...
We explore how decent work varies across Southern Africa apparel firms participating in global value chains (GVCs) and regional value chains (RVCs), respectively. We draw on cross-section survey data from 135 workers in 31 firms across Eswatini and...
Much has been written on India as an outlier in Global Value Chains (GVC). Despite being one of the largest and fastest-growing markets located in...
Theme: 2019-23, Transforming economies
Join the network
