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11. Artificial intelligence adoption in the public sector: a case study

Author:
Laura Nurski
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
This case study illustrates the drivers of and barriers to artificial intelligence adoption by organisations, and acceptance of AI by workers in the public sector. Several factors were crucial in the successful adoption of a human-centred approach to AI, including a fast discovery phase that involved workers (or end users) in the development early on, and aligning human resources, information technology and business processes. Subsidy support mechanisms were also specifically targeted and acquired to support the adoption. However, making AI support available to workers proved insufficient to ensure its widespread usage throughout the organisation. The slow adaptation of existing work processes and legacy IT systems was a barrier to the optimal usage of the technology. Moreover, the usefulness of the technology depended on both the task routineness and worker experience, thereby necessitating a rethinking of the work division between technology and workers, and between junior and senior workers. Successful human-centred roll-out of AI in Europe will therefore depend on the availability of, or investments in, complementary intangible organisational capital. Very little is currently known about these investments.
Topic:
Digital Economy, Economic Growth, Public Sector, Innovation, Artificial Intelligence, Inclusion, and Work
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. The Impact of Regulation on Innovation

Author:
Philippe Aghion, Antonin Bergeaud, and John Van Reenen
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
There is considerable research on the economic impacts of regulations but relatively few studies about their impact on technological innovation. Moreover, most analyses focus on the costs and benefits of regulation at a point in time, rather than on its effects over time. Yet potential effects on economic growth are likely to be much more pronounced in the long run. Many scholars have been concerned that slower growth in countries with heavy labor regulations could be due to firms’ reluctance to innovate given the burden of red tape. For example, the slower growth of Southern European countries and parts of Latin America have often been blamed on onerous labor laws.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Regulation, Economic Growth, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. The E-Commerce and Global Value Chains

Author:
Sangjun Yea and Seungrae Lee
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:
This study investigates the significance of India's emergence as the world's most populous nation in 2023, surpassing China, and its consequential implications for economic growth. With a focus on the demographic dividend driven by working-age and prime-age populations, we analyze the effects of shifting age distribution on India's labor force, labor market, and economic drivers. Extending the study period by integrating additional datasets, we examine per capita GDP growth, sectoral value-added, and employment shifts at the state level. Results reveal limited influence on per capita output, but significant sectoral effects. Notably, prime age composition within the working-age population emerges as a key driver of economic growth.
Topic:
Demographics, Economic Growth, Global Value Chains, and E-Commerce
Political Geography:
Asia, South Korea, and Global Focus

14. How does democracy cause growth?

Author:
Vanessa Boese-Schlosser and Markus Eberhardt
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP)
Abstract:
Recent empirical work has established that ‘democracy causes growth’. In this paper, we determine the underlying institutions which drive this relationship using data from the Varieties of Democracy project. We sketch how incentives and opportunities as well as the distribution of political power shaped by underlying institutions, in combination with the extent of the market, endogenously form an ‘economic blueprint for growth’, which likely differs across countries. We take our model to the data by adopting novel heterogeneous treatment effects estimators, which allow for non-parallel trends and selection into institutional change, and run horse races between underlying institutions. We find that freedom of expression, clean elections, and legislative executive constraints are the foremost drivers of long-run development. Erosion of these institutions, as witnessed recently in many countries, may jeopardise the perpetual growth effect of becoming a liberal democracy we establish for the post-WWII period.
Topic:
Development, Elections, Democracy, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

15. Could the Future of Work be Green? Two Plot Twists

Author:
Ghada Barsoum
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cairo Review of Global Affairs
Institution:
School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, American University in Cairo
Abstract:
There are multiple intriguing, often competing, narratives about the future of work. To some, it is digital, virtual, inclusively diverse, and overall promising. To others, it is scary, with machines taking over most of the work we thought we could do. Giant tech companies made much noise a couple of years ago by calling for universal basic income to compensate for anticipated job losses. Even creative writing, what we humans thought we could exclusively do, was threatened by the recent emergence of ChatGPT. One of the less circulated narratives about the future of work is that it can be green. Lone voices about green jobs were heard after the global financial crisis of 2008, with efforts spearheaded by a number of international organizations including the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). More than five years later, in 2013, the ILO offered a definition of green jobs during its Conference of Labour Statisticians, as jobs that are meant to “preserve or restore the environment, be they in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction, or in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency”. They also noted that green jobs could help reduce negative environmental impact and lead to sustainable enterprises and economies. Green jobs have been heralded as the promising win-win scenario, reconciling the long competing objectives of economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Topic:
Climate Change, Employment, Economic Growth, Green Jobs, and Future of Work
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16. From economic growth to a wellbeing economy: notes for a feminist foreign policy

Author:
Sarah Cook and Naila Kabeer
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Women's Development Agency (IWDA)
Abstract:
This Issues Paper differs from others produced to date in its conceptual scope and length. Rather than argue priority policy considerations, it provides a resource for feminist foreign policy thinking about the kind of economic, social and environmental outcomes that are consistent with feminist visions and required if people and planet are to survive and thrive. It argues that changing the foundational and flawed measure of Gross Domestic Product can shift understanding of the purpose of economic activity and what is valued in practice to something more feminist, inclusive and sustainable. In considering the history of GDP, critiques, and alternative measures, the authors draw out key features of a feminist approach to a wellbeing economy that offer opportunities to build links to other movements and create political and policy space for change.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, GDP, Economic Growth, and Feminism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

17. Will economic growth be sufficient to end global poverty? New projections of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Author:
Arief Anshory Yusuf, Zuzy Anna, Ahmad Komarulzaman, and Andy Sumner
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
In this paper, we present new projections for a range of global poverty-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically, extreme monetary poverty, undernutrition, stunting, child mortality, maternal mortality, and access to clean water and basic sanitation. Our projections, based on economic growth forecasts, take into account recent global shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the inflation shock. Our findings indicate that economic growth alone will not be sufficient to end global poverty, and the global poverty-related SDGs will not be met by a considerable distance. The implication of this, we argue, is that a stronger focus is needed on inclusive growth (SDG-8), and specifically redistribution with growth at global and national levels. This would mean more emphasis on policies to build productive capacities, and the introduction or expansion of income transfers as well as ensuring public investments are sufficient to meet the SDGs. To this end new international financing needs to be made available through debt relief or other forms of finance to expand developing countries’ fiscal space.
Topic:
Poverty, Sustainable Development Goals, Economic Growth, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Global Focus

18. Reigniting labour productivity growth in developing countries: Do structural reforms matter?

Author:
Kwamivi Gomado
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
While the negative effects of the 2008 global financial crisis on labour productivity are still fresh in people’s minds, the COVID-19 pandemic raises concerns that productivity will continue to decline. To boost labour productivity and regain economic performance, there is an empirical consensus on the role of structural reforms that allows an efficient reallocation of resources such as labour by reducing rigidities in markets. This study analyses the role of certain structural reforms in improving labour productivity in 35 developing countries over the period of 1990–2014. From the local projection method, our results show that structural reforms have a positive impact on productivity growth in the short and medium terms. The results also illustrate that reforms induce an efficient reallocation of resources within but not between sectors. Taking the business cycle into account in estimates shows that structural reforms stimulate labour productivity growth better in periods of low economic growth.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Financial Crisis, Reform, Business, Economic Growth, and Productivity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

19. Boom-bust Cycles Revisited: The Role of Credit Supply

Author:
Hyo Sang Kim, Sangyup Choi, and Yuri Kim
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:
This study investigates the impacts of credit supply on economic growth and financial crisis. Excess credit supply can make the economy and financial markets more vulnerable. While credit supply can drive economic growth by reallocating resources, it can also make the economy and financial markets more fragile. Asset prices sharply fall when deleveraging occurs in the case of a negative shock to the financial or real sector in a system where credit is excessively supplied. Furthermore, economic activity might be substantially reduced, extending the length and breadth of the recession.
Topic:
Markets, Financial Crisis, Economy, Economic Growth, and Credit
Political Geography:
Global Focus

20. Poverty, inequality, and growth: trends, policies, and controversies

Author:
Ines A. Ferreira, Vincenzo Salvucci, and Finn Tarp
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Reducing poverty and inequality and promoting inclusive growth are fundamental to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Much has changed in the global economy in recent decades and perspectives on progress made vary widely. This is even more so in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, getting to grips in a meaningful manner with existing trends is critical to evidence-based policy-making. This contribution aims to provide an original review and evaluation of the main stylized facts concerning poverty, inequality, and growth. It will uncover existing trends, put controversies into perspective, and help to provide a platform for informed policy debate.
Topic:
Poverty, Inequality, Sustainable Development Goals, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus