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72. How the G7 Reviews its Work on Development: A Case Study of Internal Accountability
- Author:
- Roger A. Fischer
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- This paper suggests ways to improve G7 accountability practice so that it better capture learning effects. Better designed commitments and improved follow up would also support G7 legitimacy, because this would make it easier for external stakeholders to check G7 action against its words.
- Topic:
- Development, Accountability, and G7
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
73. Digitalising the Fiscal Contract: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Empirical Inquiry
- Author:
- Christian van Haldenwang
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- Taxation is above all a political rather than a technical issue. But what happens if new digital technologies cause profound power shifts in the relationship between revenue authorities and taxpayers? The paper seeks to lay the conceptual groundwork for the analysis of this interplay.
- Topic:
- Economy, Tax Systems, and Fiscal Policy
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
74. Cling Together, Swing Together: The Contagious Effects of COVID-19 on Developing Countries through Global Value Chains
- Author:
- Stefan Pahl, Clara Brandi, Jakob Schwab, and Frederik Stender
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- This paper estimates the economic vulnerability of developing countries to disruptions in global value chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reveals that adverse demand-side effects reduce GDP up to 5.4 percent, and collapsing foreign supply generates a drop in GDP of a similar magnitude.
- Topic:
- Developing World, GDP, Economy, Global Value Chains, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
75. The Role of Values for Social Cohesion: Theoretical Explication and Empirical Exploration
- Author:
- Daniel Nowack and Sophia Schoderer
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- Shared values are deemed necessary as a solid foundation for social cohesion by commentators and observers in many countries. However, when examining what kind of values this is based on, answers often come down to platitudes and national clichés. This discussion paper offers some clarification through both a theoretical explication and an empirical exploration concerning the general role of values for social cohesion. Values are notions about desirable, trans-situational end-states and behaviours. They fall into two categories, individual and societal values. We provide a critical discussion of the most prominent conceptualisations and their operationalisation in the social sciences. Values affect social cohesion in three possible pathways: First, when they are shared; second, when they promote behaviour per se conducive to social cohesion and third, through their effect on policy choice and institutional design. We review evidence provided by the research literature for each of these pathways. We further explore the third pathway by deriving from the research literature the conjecture that a cultural value emphasis on egalitarianism makes a universalistic scope of welfare institutions more likely, which in turn increases social and political trust. We first examine this conjecture with a series of regression models, and then run a mediation analysis. The results show that (1.) egalitarian values are moderately strongly and positively linked to universalistic welfare institutions, but that (2.) welfare institutions mediate the association of egalitarian values with social trust only to a small extent and that (3.) more universalistic welfare institutions counteract a negative association between egalitarian values and institutional trust.
- Topic:
- Culture, Institutions, Values, Welfare, and Social Cohesion
- Political Geography:
- Germany and Global Focus
76. Revenue Collection and Social Policies: Their Underestimated Contribution to Social Cohesion
- Author:
- Francesco Burchi, Christoph Strupat, and Armin von Schiller
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- Social cohesion is an important precondition for peaceful and economically successful societies. The question of how societies hold together and which policies enhance social cohesion has become a relevant topic on both national and international agendas. This Briefing Paper stresses the contribution of revenue collection and social policies, and in particular the interlinkages between the two. It is evident that revenue mobilisation and social policies are intrinsically intertwined. It is impossible to think carefully about either independently of the other. In particular, revenue is needed to finance more ambitious social policies and allow countries to reach goals, such as those included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Similarly, better social policies can increase the acceptance of higher taxes and fees. Furthermore, and often underestimated, a better understanding of the interlinkages between revenue generation and social policies can provide a significant contribution to strengthening social cohesion – in particular, concerning state–citizen relationships. In order to shed light on these interlinkages, it is useful to have a closer look at the concept of the “fiscal contract”, which is based on the core idea that governments exchange public services for revenue. Fiscal contracts can be characterised along two dimensions: (i) level of endorsement, that is, the number of actors and groups that at least accept, and ideally proactively support, the fiscal contract, and (ii) level of involvement, that is, the share of the population that is involved as taxpayer, as beneficiary of social policies or both. In many developing countries, either because of incapacity or biased state action towards elite groups, the level of involvement is rather low. Given the common perception that policies are unjust and inefficient, in many developing countries the level of endorsement is also low. It is precisely in these contexts that interventions on either side of the public budget are crucial and can have a significant societal effect beyond the fiscal realm. We argue that development programmes need to be especially aware of the potential impacts (negative and positive) that work on revenue collection and social policies can have on the fiscal contract and beyond, and we call on donors and policy-makers alike to recognise these areas as relevant for social cohesion. We specifically identify three key mechanisms connecting social policies and revenue collection through which policy-makers could strengthen the fiscal contract and, thereby, enhance social cohesion: 1. Increasing the effectiveness and/or coverage of public social policies. These interventions could improve the perceptions that people – and not only the direct beneficiaries – have of the state, raising their willingness to pay taxes and, with that, improving revenues. 2. Broadening the tax base. This is likely to generate new revenue that can finance new policies, but more importantly it will increase the level of involvement, which will have other effects, such as increasing government responsiveness and accountability in the use of public resources. 3. Enhancing transparency. This can stimulate public debate and affect people’s perceptions of the fiscal system. In order to obtain this result, government campaigns aimed at diffusing information about the main features of policies realised are particularly useful, as are interventions to improve the monitoring and evaluation system.
- Topic:
- Development, Finance, Economic Growth, Tax Systems, Transparency, and Social Cohesion
- Political Geography:
- Germany and Global Focus
77. The Behavioural Lens: Taking a Behavioural Vantage Point to Improve the Success of Development Programmes
- Author:
- Lennart C. Kaplan, Sascha Kuhn, and Jana Kuhnt
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- Successful programmes and policies require supportive behaviour from their targeted populations. Understanding what drives human reactions is crucial for the design and implementation of development programmes. Research has shown that people are not rational agents and that providing them with financial or material incentives is often not enough to foster long-term behavioural change. For this reason, the consideration of behavioural aspects that influence an individual’s actions, including the local context, has moved into the focus of development programmes. Disregarding these factors endangers the success of programmes. The World Bank brought this point forward forcefully with its 2015 World Development Report, “Mind, Society and Behavior”, herewith supporting the focus on behavioural insights within development policies. While agencies may intuitively consider behavioural aspects during programme design and implementation, a systematic approach would improve programme effectiveness at a relatively small financial cost. For this reason, we present a framework – the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) – that aids practitioners and researchers alike in considering important determinants of human behaviour during the design and implementation of development programmes The TPB suggests considering important determinants of human behaviour, such as the individual’s attitude towards the intervention (influenced by previous knowledge, information or learning); subjective norms (influenced by important people, such as family members or superiors); and the individual’s sense of behavioural control (influenced by a subjective assessment of barriers and enablers). The theory should be used early on in the programme design to perform a structured assessment of behavioural aspects in the appropriate context. Components of the TPB can often be addressed through cost-effective, easy changes to existing programmes. Simple guiding questions (see Box 1) can help integrate the theory into the programme design. An iterative and inclusive process, particularly in exchange with the targeted population and other stakeholders, increases success.
- Topic:
- Development, Norms, and Behavior
- Political Geography:
- Germany and Global Focus
78. Comparing Global Trends in Multidimensional and Income Poverty and Assessing Horizontal Inequalities
- Author:
- Francesco Burchi, Daniele Malerba, Nicole Rippin, and Claudio E. Montenegro
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- The 2030 Agenda has provided new impetus to two facets of the struggle for poverty alleviation, which is a central goal of the international development community. First, poverty is no longer viewed strictly in monetary terms, but rather as a multidimensional phenomenon. Second, the need to reduce poverty for different social groups and not just at the aggregate, national level is explicitly recognised. Against this background, this paper has three objectives: (1) to analyse the trends in multidimensional poverty in low- and middle-income countries, (2) to explore rural-urban differences in poverty over time, and (3) to assess the validity of the claim that there has been a feminisation of poverty. The analysis relies on a new indicator of multidimensional poverty, the Global Correlation Sensitive Poverty Index (G-CSPI), that incorporates three key components: education, employment and health. The G-CSPI has several methodological advantages over existing measures, including that it is an individual rather than a household-level measure of poverty, which is crucial for gender-disaggregated analysis. Regarding aggregate trends, this paper shows that both income poverty and multidimensional poverty fell between 2000 and 2012. However, the decline in (extreme) income poverty in percentage terms was twice as large as the decline in multidimensional poverty. There is significant heterogeneity in the results across regions. Multidimensional poverty declined the most in Asia, converging towards the relatively low levels of Latin America and Europe, while sub-Saharan Africa’s slow progress further distanced it from other regions. These findings point to the existence of poverty traps and indicate that more efforts are needed to eradicate poverty. Regarding the urban-rural comparison, our analysis shows that poverty is predominantly a rural phenomenon: the rural G-CSPI was more than four times the urban G-CSPI. This difference remained nearly constant over time. As for the third objective, we find no gender bias in 2000 at the global level. This contrasts with the claim made in 1995 in Beijing that 70 per cent of the poor were women. However, we find that multidimensional poverty declined more among men (-18.5 per cent from 2000) than women (-15 per cent), indicating a process of feminisation of poverty. This was triggered by the decline in employment poverty, which was much slower among women. As most existing studies conclude that there was no evidence of the feminisation of poverty, this finding is new to the literature.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Poverty, Inequality, Urban, and Rural
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Global Focus
79. The Development Policy System under Pressure: Acknowledging Limitations, Sourcing Advantages and Moving towards a Broader Perspective
- Author:
- Victoria Gonsior and Stephan Klingebiel
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- This paper uses the development policy system as an entry point assuming that various fundamental changes along three dimensions – narratives (why?), strategies (what?) and operational approaches (how?) – can be observed over recent years. Changes are diverse, ranging from new narratives translated to the development policy context (such as the migration narrative) to strategic considerations (for instance, developing countries’ graduation implications), new instruments (in form of development finance at the interface with the private sector), and concepts for project implementation (including frontier technology). We discuss the implications and effects of these trends in terms of holistic changes to the wider development policy system itself. Do these changes go hand-in-hand with and ultimately build on and re-inform each other? Or are we actually observing a disconnect between the narratives that frame the engagement of actors in development policy, their strategies for delivery, and operational approaches in partner countries? Based on a consultation of the appropriate literature and information gathered during a number of expert interviews and brainstorming sessions, this paper sheds light on these questions by exploring current trends and by highlighting continuing disconnections between the “why”, “what” and “how” in the development policy system. Further, we argue that the importance of such disconnections is increasing. In particular, the persistent or even increasing disconnections in the development policy system can be more problematic in the face of a universal agenda and the need to upscale delivery to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Topic:
- Development, Science and Technology, United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, and Public Policy
- Political Geography:
- Germany and Global Focus
80. Literature Review: Drivers of Migration
- Author:
- Jana Kuhnt
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- Why do people leave their homes? This seemingly easy question requires a more complex answer. What ultimately prompts a person to leave if it is impossible to find a job due to a conflict that has destroyed all economic opportunities? Evidence suggests that the migration decision is a complex process that is dependent on a multitude of factors, such as migration governance regimes, migration and smuggler networks, access to technology, or individual characteristics such as age, gender and educational background. I use a theoretical framework to present the variety of determinants that have been put forward as influencing migration decisions at the macro-, meso-, and micro-level. This structured overview discusses their importance for different forms of migration and subsequently helps to identify gaps for further research.
- Topic:
- Migration, Immigration, Refugees, and Economic Development
- Political Geography:
- Germany and Global Focus