World Institute for Development Economics Research

About: World Institute for Development Economics Research is a facility organization based out in Helsinki, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Poverty & Population. The organization has 110 authors who have published 525 publications receiving 17316 citations.

Policy diffusion within international organizations A bottom-up analysis of International Monetary Fund tax work in Panama, Seychelles, and the Netherlands

Abstract: I analyse the evolution of the International Monetary Fund tax policy advice in three countries commonly used for tax evasion or avoidance: Panama, Seychelles, and the Netherlands. A review of loan agreements and Country Reports covering 1999 to 2017 highlights the dependence of the Fund’s country teams on external assessments produced by the Fund’s other departments and smaller international organizations. Insofar as the Fund has paid attention to international tax flight, its focus has largely been on individual-level tax evasion instead of corporate tax avoidance. The responses have been inconsistent, with the tax haven regime of Seychelles getting much more attention than Panama and the Netherlands.

Gender Inequality in Employment in Mozambique

Abstract: We investigate the trend in the gender employment gap in the expanding nonsubsistence sector of the economy in Mozambique, a country still characterized by a large subsistence agricultural sector. We show evidence that the gender gap has widened over time and we identify two factors strongly associated with it. One factor is the still relatively lower level of female human capital, with less attained education, as well as literacy and Portuguese proficiency rates. The lower conditional employment probabilities of married women, as compared with men, is the other factor. These findings point at expanding women´s education and facilitating the access of married women to the emerging labour market as the most effective ways of achieving a more inclusive growth path that does not leave women behind.

Fiscal decentralization and efficiency of public services delivery by local governments in Ghana

Abstract: In this paper, we estimate the efficiency of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana, and investigate the impact of fiscal decentralization on the efficiency of local public goods and services delivery by MMDAs. Using data from composite budgets of all 216 MMDAs, we employ both nonparametric and parametric frontier methods to carry out the study.

Multidimensional Poverty of Children in Mozambique

Abstract: We analyse the multidimensional wellbeing of children aged 0–17 in Mozambique and find that 46.3% can be considered multidimensionally poor. A substantial divide exists between urban and rural areas and between northern and southern provinces. We compare Mozambican children’s wellbeing with that of children in other regional countries. Despite impressive gains in some indicators, multidimensional child poverty in Mozambique still substantially exceeds that in neighbouring countries. Targeted policies considering the specificities of child welfare are needed to ensure that the national-level growth and poverty reduction experienced by the population as a whole translate into better living conditions for children.