Category: New social contract

Gender, Women and Girls, New social contract

Why women are made to rely on vulnerable work

By Maria C. Lo Bue, Research Associate at UNU-WIDER, Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Finance, University of Bari; Tu Thi Ngoc Le, Professor of Economics, Hoa Sen University; Manuel Santos Silva, Postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Economics, University of Münster; and Kunal Sen, Director of UNU-WIDER; Professor of Development Economics at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester

The gender pay-gap is one of the foremost indicators of gender inequality and thus a guide for women’s economic empowerment policies. Although there is abundant data available on the phenomenon in OECD economies, this is not the case for the majority of developing countries, where most workers are self-employed and do not receive a regular wage, making it difficult to measure “pay gaps for similar work”. In a recent study for the United Nations University, we took a different approach, examining the gender gap in vulnerable employment in 101 developing countries worldwide. The results have important implications for policymakers.

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New social contract

To recover from the crisis, tax the wealth of multimillionaires like me

By Djaffar Shalchi, Entrepreneur from Denmark and Founder of Millionaires for Humanity, a network of wealthy people who advocate for raising taxes on wealthy people

As the world reels from the COVID-19 crisis, countries desperately need to finance health for all, the economic recovery, and poverty reduction. And as the world grapples with the social tensions generated by rising inequality, countries desperately need to find a way to rebuild social cohesion. The great news for 2022 is that there is a way: tax the wealth of multimillionaires to help fund the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I know – because I am one of the multimillionaires who would have to pay a wealth tax.

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Development Matters
Africa, Covid-19, New social contract

Well-designed tax policy reforms are key to successful post-Covid fiscal consolidation in Africa

By Daniel Prinz, Research Economist and Country Programme Manager at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Centre for Tax Analysis in Developing Countries (TaxDev)

Given the massive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public finances globally, it is little surprise that the IMF’s October 2021 forecasts of debt and debt servicing costs in sub-Saharan Africa are substantially higher than was projected in October 2019 (Figure 1). Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa may need to impose fiscal consolidation measures to enhance the sustainability of their public finances even before their economies have fully recovered from the pandemic. The need for higher public revenues is an opportunity for countries to make their tax systems more efficient and equitable, particularly through well-designed green taxes, property taxes and rationalised tax expenditures. Getting these reforms right will be essential to ensure they do not slow the recovery and that they are socially and politically acceptable.

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Latin America and the Caribbean, New social contract

How’s life in Latin America? Deepening inequalities and hard-won gains at risk

By Romina Boarini, Director of the OECD WISE Centre (Centre for Well-being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity) and Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Director of OECD Development Centre

The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region has experienced considerable gains in well-being over the past two decades, according to the new report How’s Life in Latin America? Measuring Well-being for Policy Making by the OECD Centre on Well-being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity (WISE) and the OECD Development Centre. The eleven countries studied in the report – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay – have experienced many improvements in quality of life since the early 2000s such as increased life expectancy, reduced child and maternal mortality, and better access to drinking water. The number of people in absolute poverty (i.e. those whose income is not enough to meet basic needs such as food or shelter) has declined – from 1 in 3 in 2006 to 1 in 5 by 2019 – and the share of the population with an upper secondary education has risen from 34% to 46%.  

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Latin America and the Caribbean, New social contract

¿Cómo va la vida en América Latina? Se agudizan las desigualdades y peligran los logros alcanzados

Por Romina Boarini, Directora del Centro para el Bienestar, Inclusión, Sostenibilidad e Igualdad de Oportunidades de la OCDE y Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Directora del Centro de Desarrollo de la OCDE

La región de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) ha experimentado un aumento considerable del bienestar en las últimas dos décadas, según el nuevo informe ¿Cómo va la vida en América Latina? Medición del bienestar para la formulación de políticas públicas, elaborado por el Centro de Bienestar, Inclusión, Sostenibilidad e Igualdad de Oportunidades (WISE) y el Centro de Desarrollo de la OCDE. Los once países estudiados en el informe – Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, México, Paraguay, Perú, República Dominicana y Uruguay – han experimentado muchas mejoras en la calidad de vida desde principios de la década de 2000, como el aumento de la esperanza de vida, la reducción de la mortalidad infantil y materna y un mejor acceso al agua potable. El número de personas en situación de pobreza absoluta (es decir, aquellas cuyos ingresos no son suficientes para satisfacer necesidades básicas como la alimentación o la vivienda) ha disminuido – de 1 de cada 3 en 2006 a 1 de cada 5 en 2019 – y la proporción de la población con educación secundaria superior ha aumentado del 34% al 46%. 

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Development Matters
Education, Latin America and the Caribbean, New social contract

How Brazil’s schools are overcoming education inequalities through student-centred learning

By Camila Pereira, Director of Education, Lemann Foundation

With over 180,000 schools closed from March 2020 to August 2021, remote learning became the only option for Brazil’s 47 million students. Despite huge efforts by educators, public officials and families to support children while they were away from classrooms, a big impact on learning is expected. Brazilian education has long suffered from deeply entrenched inequalities and gaps that have been worsened by COVID-19. What solutions are needed for Brazil to overcome these inequalities?

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irut, Lebanon - August 2020: Beirut Port destroyed following explosive blasts. Photo: Shutterstock
New social contract

Lebanon’s path back from the brink of collapse

By Dr. Nasser Saidi, Economist and former Minister of Economy and Industry of Lebanon

Since October 2019, Lebanon has been in the throes of a historically unprecedented economic and financial meltdown, simultaneously facing a humanitarian crisis, a debt crisis, a banking crisis, a currency crisis, and a balance of payments crisis. The numbers are staggering. Real GDP has declined for the fourth consecutive year by a cumulative 45% since 2018 making it the second most severe financial crisis in history. The Lira has lost 90% of its value, annual inflation is running at 150% and an 80% de facto haircut has been imposed on deposits.

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Development Matters
New social contract

Digitalização como estratégia anticorrupção: quais são os dividendos de integridade de se tornar digital?

Carlos Santiso, Diretor de Inovação Digital do Estado do Banco de Desenvolvimento da América Latina

Read this blog in English / Leer este blog en español

A resposta à crise do coronavírus está fornecendo uma oportunidade única para reinventar o governo, reconstruir a confiança e acelerar a luta global contra a corrupção, impulsionada pelo uso mais inteligente de novas tecnologias e análises de dados. A transformação digital é fundamental para os planos de recuperação, que exigirão governo ágil e redução da burocracia, mas também programas de reativação à prova de corrupção. Também exigirá o gerenciamento e a mitigação dos riscos à privacidade e à segurança pública.

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Development Matters
New social contract

La digitalización como estrategia anticorrupción

Por Carlos Santiso, Director, Dirección de innovación digital del estado de CAF – Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina

Read this blog in English / em portugues

La respuesta a la crisis del coronavirus está brindando una oportunidad única para reinventar el gobierno, reconstruir la confianza y acelerar la lucha mundial contra la corrupción, impulsada por el uso más inteligente de las nuevas tecnologías y el análisis de datos. La transformación digital es un aspecto fundamental de los planes de recuperación, que requerirán gobiernos ágiles y reducción de la burocracia, pero también garantías de integridad en el uso de los recursos de los programas de reactivación. También requerirá gestionar y mitigar los riesgos para la privacidad y la ciberseguridad.

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New social contract

Digitalisation as an anti-corruption strategy: what are the integrity dividends of going digital?

By Carlos Santiso, Director, Digital Innovation in Government Directorate, Development Bank of Latin America

Leer este blog en español / em portugues

The response to the coronavirus crisis is providing a unique opportunity to “reinvent government”, rebuild trust and accelerate the global fight against corruption, propelled by the smarter use of new technologies and data analytics. Digital transformation is central to recovery plans, which will require agile government and cutting red-tape, but also corruption-proofing reactivation programmes. Additionally, it will require managing and mitigating the risks to privacy and cybersecurity. At a macro level, the correlation between digitalisation and corruption is well established. Digitalisation can disrupt corruption by reducing discretion, increasing transparency, and enabling accountability by dematerialising services and limiting human interactions. Furthermore, it allows for more effective oversight by smarter accountability institutions and data-savvy civil society. However, there is less actionable evidence at the micro level on the effects of specific digitalisation reforms on different types of corruption and the policy channels through which they operate.

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