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.

The impacts of the food, fuel and financial crises on households in Nigeria A retrospective approach for research enquiry

Abstract: This paper examines the impacts of the financial, food and fuel crises on the livelihoods of low-income households Nigeria. It uses primary household level data from Nigeria to analyse the impacts of induced price variability on household welfare. Our results indicate that aggregate shocks have significant adverse effects on household consumption, human capital, and labour decisions with a degree of impact variability between northern and southern regions of the country. We find that the coping strategies adopted by the poor to deal with the short-term effects of the crises, and which include substitution for lower quality food, increasing the intensity of work, withdrawing children from school – especially girls – and engaging children in child labour, can lock households in a low-income equilibrium or poverty trap. Provided that covariate shocks exacerbate these effects, tackling the effects of covariate risks becomes central for present and future development policy.

Development Assistance and Development Finance: Evidence and Global Policy Agendas

Abstract: Understanding the development effects of official aid is crucial to building a better bridge between research and policy. This paper reviews the current evidence regarding the impact of aid on growth and poverty reduction, and develops a new narrative. In the light of this narrative, the paper then examines aid trends, focusing on the regions of sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific.

The Economic Implications of Introducing Carbon Taxes in South Africa

Abstract: South Africa is considering introducing carbon taxes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We evaluate potential impacts using a dynamic economy-wide model linked to an energy sector model. Simulation results indicate that a phased-in carbon tax that reaches US$30 per ton of CO2 by 2022 achieves the ambitious national emissions reductions targets set for 2025. Relative to a baseline with free disposal of CO2, constant world prices and no change in trading partner behaviour, the preferred tax scenario reduces national absorption and employment by 1.2 and 0.6 per cent, respectively, by 2025. However, if South Africa’s trading partners unilaterally impose a carbon consumption tax then welfare and employment losses exceed those of a domestic carbon tax. Border tax adjustments improve welfare and employment while maintaining the same emissions reductions. The mode for recycling carbon tax revenues strongly influences distributional outcomes, with tradeoffs between growth and equity.

Aid and Public Sector Behavior in Developing Countries

Abstract: This paper analyzes developing-country public-sector fiscal behavior. It is concerned specifically with how aid inflows affect various categories of revenue and expenditure. An econometric model is developed, which differs from those used in previous studies by allowing domestic borrowing to finance both capital and recurrent expenditure. Structural and reduced-form equations are derived and estimated using 1956-95 time-series data for Pakistan. Results indicate that aid is allocated mainly to investment, is positively associated with both investment and consumption expenditure, and has no final impact on taxation.