WIDER Annual Lecture | 9 December

The 2021 WIDER Annual Lecture was held online on 9 December. The lecture shares Bina Agarwal’s latest research on women’s access to land ownership in South Asia. Legal reforms have addressed the gender gap in land ownership as well as restrictive social norms that contribute to the phenomenon. Agarwal shares the history and latest updates on the progress and stumbling blocks on the phenomenon, and ways forward. The lecture is joined by Professor of international affairs at The New School in New York, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, as discussant.

Watch a recording https://go.unu.edu/kOC7i

Working Paper | Aid and social cohesion

A plethora of work has been done on the effectiveness of foreign aid. However, virtually none of the previous studies has investigated the impact of aid on social cohesion. Our empirical results suggest that aid produces a strong, positive, and significant effect in improving social cohesion. Moreover, the results reveal that the effect of aid is positive and significant in countries characterized by low social cohesion but becomes insignificant in more cohesive societies. The main results are robust to various specifications, estimation procedures, and measures of aid used. Read more at https://go.unu.edu/xOiv1

Working paper | The gender employment gap: the effects of extended maternity leave policy in Viet Nam

This study seeks to determine the effect on the gender employment gap and women’s employment of the extension of maternity leave from four months to six months in Viet Nam’s 2012 Labor Code. The objective of this study is to provide evidence of the relationship between extensions of maternity leave and the gender employment gap in Viet Nam. The findings show that, on average, the new law did not exacerbate the gender employment gap, and there was a narrowing of the gap in the formal jobs sector compared to the waged jobs sector for women of childbearing age without infant children; however, this narrowing is very small.

Read more at https://go.unu.edu/W31QN

Working Paper | Industrialization in developing countries: is it related to poverty reduction?

This paper proposes an empirical framework that relates poverty reduction to production growth. The evidence suggests that structural change and agricultural productivity growth account for a substantial share of poverty reduction in developing Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and that productivity growth in manufacturing accounts for poverty reduction in developing Asia, but not in sub-Saharan Africa. Read more at https://go.unu.edu/MJ6NC

Policy Brief | Towards greater poverty reduction in Zambia

A large share of the population in Zambia is living below the national poverty line, with most of them being extremely poor. In a bid to improve the social and economic situation, the Zambian government introduced the Social Cash Transfer (SCT) programme which provides cash payments to poor and vulnerable households. See more at https://go.unu.edu/BF7Cl

Administration Team Assistant

UNU-WIDER is looking for a professional Administration Team Assistant to provide front-desk and administrative services to our Helsinki office.

As the frontline representative of the office, the Administration Team Assistant will screen visitors, manage phone and postal services, and provide meeting and logistical assistance. Supporting the safety and security of UNU-WIDER personnel and visitors, including monitoring door access and CCTV activity, supporting fire and safety protocols, and updating databases, will be a key feature of this dynamic position. Apply at  https://go.unu.edu/pJNGS