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2. What is the (New) Deal with Fragile States?
- Author:
- Wim Naudé
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Some states lack the capability and/or the willingness to progressively promote the shared development of their citizens and are particularly vulnerable to external shocks and internal conflicts. They have been described as "fragile states". The poor governance and lack of state capabilities in around 45 fragile states pose a threat to global security and development. Effective international partnerships are necessary to pull them out of low-development–high-conflict traps. The "New Deal on Fragile States" announced on 30 November 2011 at the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan by the g7+ (see "The International Dialogue on Peace-building and State-building and the g7+" Box) is the most recent initiative to foster such partnerships.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Political Economy, Terrorism, Foreign Aid, and Fragile/Failed State
3. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries
- Author:
- Wim Naudé, Adam Szirmai, and Micheline Goedhuys
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Nobody can be left in any doubt as to the importance of innovation for prosperity upon reading that “people living in the first decade of the twentieth century did not know modern dental and medical equipment, penicillin, bypass operations, safe births, control of genetically transmitted diseases, personal computers, compact discs, television sets, automobiles, opportunities for fast and cheap worldwide travel, affordable universities, central heating, air conditioning . . . technological change has transformed the quality of our lives.”
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Globalization, and Markets
4. Promoting Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Policy Challenges
- Author:
- Wim Naudé
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This policy brief provides some fresh perspectives on the relationship between entrepreneurship and development, and considers policy design issues. It reports on the UNU-WIDER two-year research project “Promoting Entrepreneurial Capacity”, which aimed to understand whether and how entrepreneurship matters for development, how it could derail development, how entrepreneurs function in high growth as well as in conflict environments, and how female entrepreneurship differs across countries at various stages of development.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Iraq, and Burundi
5. The Global Economic Crisis after One Year: Is a New Paradigm for Recovery in Developing Countries Emerging?
- Author:
- Wim Naudé
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- T HE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND RECESSION, WHICH spread across the globe following the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in September 2008, has become the dominant news topic of the past year. One year into the crisis it has become clear that the paradigm for international development has changed irrevocably. With leadership, moral authority and the capacity of the West diminishing, developing countries' recovery and future growth will critically depend on their own initiatives and solutions.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States
6. Policy Responses to the Global Economic Crisis in Africa
- Author:
- Wim Naudé and Augustin Kwasi Fosu
- Publication Date:
- 08-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS OF 2008 HAS INDUCED two negative external shocks in African countries. The first is a financial shock with the availability of credit declining and the cost of international credit increasing (a financial crisis); and the second is a shock relating to the demand for and price of exports, as most of Africa's important markets went into recession and commodity prices tumbled (an economic crisis).
- Topic:
- Globalization, Poverty, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa
7. Fragile States
- Author:
- Mark McGillivray, Wim Naudé, and Amelia U. Santos-Paulino
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- Many of the world's poorest countries can be described as “fragile states” wherein governments cannot or will not provide an environment for households to reduce, mitigate or cope with poverty and other risks to well-being. Many of these states are in conflict or just emerging from conflict. The UNU-WIDER project “Fragility and Development” explored state fragility and its relationship to household vulnerability, noting that there is a lack of research on the economic dimensions of conflict, aid and development in fragile states. This research brief provides a summary of the various contributions made by this project, including case studies on Iraq, Kosovo, Palestine and Somalia. It also addresses a number of pertinent questions. When are states fragile? What are the costs that fragile states impose on their people and the international community? Should the sovereignty of fragile states be reconsidered? And how can aid flows to fragile states be made more effective?
- Topic:
- Government, Politics, Post Colonialism, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Palestine, Kosovo, and Somalia
8. Vulnerability in Developing Countries
- Author:
- Mark McGillivray, Wim Naudé, and Amelia U. Santos-Paulino
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- The first Millennium Development Goal aims to halve the number of people in the world living in extreme poverty. In this research brief, emanating from the UNU-WIDER project on “Fragility and Development”, the premise is that we should also be concerned about households which are vulnerable to poverty. This includes those who have little likelihood of escaping from poverty and those who are at risk of falling into poverty in the future. Household vulnerability to poverty is affected by, and affects, vulnerability in other dimensions and levels, such as the vulnerability of a country or region to natural hazards and macro-economic shocks. To address household vulnerability in developing countries requires an understanding of the concept and nature of vulnerability, its measurement and its application. Therefore, this research brief asks what is vulnerability? How can vulnerability be measured? How should households, governments and development agencies respond to vulnerability?
- Topic:
- Development, Political Economy, Post Colonialism, Poverty, and Third World
9. The Significance of Transport Costs in Africa
- Author:
- Wim Naudé and Marianne Matthee
- Publication Date:
- 08-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- The success of Africa's exports, as well as its spatial development, depends on lowering transport costs. In this Policy Brief, we address a number of pertinent questions on transport costs in Africa, such as 'what are transport costs?', 'do transport costs matter for trade?', 'how important are transport costs in practice?', and 'why are Africa's transport costs so high?' We present a case study of the firm location decisions of exporters in South Africa to illustrate the significance in particular of domestic transport costs for manufactured exports. The message from this Policy Brief is that Africa's international transport costs are significantly higher than that of other regions, and its domestic transport costs could be just as significant. Moreover we show how domestic transport costs influence the location, the quantity, and the diversity of manufactured exports. Various policy options to reduce transport costs in Africa are discussed.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
- Political Geography:
- Africa