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.

Social Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa. Getting the Politics Right

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the recent extension of social protection in sub-Saharan Africa. It identifies two main “models” of social protection in the region: one based on age-based income transfers in the middle income countries in Southern Africa, and another more diverse and incipient group of programs providing a mix of poverty-based transfers in the low income countries in Eastern, Central, and West Africa. It concludes that for an effective institutional framework for social protection to evolve in sub-Saharan Africa, the present focus on the technical design of programs needs to be accompanied by analyses that contribute to also “getting the politics right.”

Response to Professor Stephen Jenkins’ comments on the World Income Inequality Database (WIID)

Abstract: Professor Stephen Jenkins (this issue) has conducted an extremely careful and insightful analysis of two datasets, WIID and SWIID. In this short response, we focus on his review of the WIID, maintained and published by UNU-WIDER in agreement with the World Bank. We wish to highlight at the outset that we are very grateful for Professor Jenkins’ expert advice and suggestions; and note that the WIID has over the past couple of years been developed in the direction recommended in the appraisal. This response provides, first, some background to the development and basic philosophy of the WIID, with particular attention to data comparability and proper documentation. We subsequently outline the recent changes made to the database, now available on the internet as the revised version WIID3.0b.1 Finally, we offer some brief concluding remarks.

The Dominican Republic Trade Policy Review 2008

Abstract: This paper reviews the Dominican Republic’s 2008 Trade Policy Review undertaken in the context of the WTO’s regulations. The Trade Policy Review reveals that the country has been successfully pursuing a more open trade regime. However, several challenges remain, particularly like addressing the asymmetries between the domestic and export-oriented sectors, and the bias created by the incentives provided to specific industries.