The debate over the IMF’s conditions for international lending has been ongoing since its inception, with growing concerns about its imposition on developing countries, particularly since the 1980s. In addition to assessing their normative influence, a critical focus is on understanding the economic impact of these conditions in recipient countries. While several studies have examined economic growth in response to aggregate conditionality, there is a lack of research that examines the impact of specific conditions on (i) disaggregated economic outcomes and (ii) productivity rather than economic growth. Based on three macroeconomic datasets on IMF conditions, (economic) development and productivity indicators, this study aims to identify the impact of conditions in 13 distinct policy areas on economy-wide as well as sectoral productivity over the period 1980-2019 in South, East, and Southeast Asian countries. While conditioning on a rich set of control variables, our results, derived from identification strategies designed to be robust to endogeneity, indicate heterogeneous sectoral responses to IMF conditions, consistent in sign across estimators, while economy-wide productivity is largely unaffected. Consequently, we derive sector-specific policy recommendations which are aligned with the effects of extant policy conditions on sectoral productivity.
Agricultural research can play a decisive role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, yet persistent gaps between research and policymaking limit its impact. This study examines how food systems research in Vietnam contributed to the National Action Plan for Transparent, Responsible, and Sustainable Food Systems Transformation (FS-NAP, 2022–2030). Using Outcome Trajectory Evaluation (OTE) informed by Policy Window Theory and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 13 institutional actors (September 2023) and document review, we identify three outcomes: reframing the food systems problem through new evidence; raising policymaker awareness via advocacy and communication; and strengthening an institutional support base. These outcomes operated through the three analytical streams of Policy Window Theory, enabled by innovative research, multi-institutional collaboration, and assertive communication. Key vulnerabilities include dependence on a central convener and Vietnam’s stable political context. The paper demonstrates how OTE renders visible long causal chains between R4D investments and policy outcomes.
This paper analyzes women’s labor force participation in Türkiye from 1998 to 2018 using five waves of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Employing an Age-Period-Cohort (APC) analysis, the study disentangles the effects of life cycle, economic shifts, and generational changes on labor force participation. Additionally, an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition is used to assess the impact of educational attainment, fertility, and gender role attitudes on changes in labor force participation over time. The results show rising urban participation driven by education and supportive policies, while rural participation declines due to the shift away from agriculture. Education, particularly higher education, plays a key role, though cultural norms and demand-side constraints, such as limited job opportunities, continue to hinder progress. Despite some changes in gender role attitudes, traditional views on family roles remain a barrier in the absence of affordable childcare and comprehensive work-family reconciliation policies.
Caste-based disparities in formal agricultural credit markets are well documented, but the mechanisms behind these differences remain underexplored. We examine several potential pathways: first, whether Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) have a lower probability of formal credit use; second, if higher caste diversity amplifies caste-based differences (out-group threat and diversity effects); third, whether ‘enclave effects’ influence outcomes; and fourth, the salience of caste identity (identity effects) across social groups. Using data from the National Sample Survey Office Land and Livestock Holdings and Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households (2018-19), probit model estimates suggest that, compared with Other Backward Class (OBCs)/Others households, SC/ST households have a lower probability of receiving formal credit. An increase in caste diversity intensifies these disparities in districts dominated by OBC/Others, highlighting the presence of enclave effects for OBC/Others only. Notably, the salience of caste identity appears more pronounced for OBCs/Other individuals, who experience greater identity effects, suggesting that caste identities matter mostly for OBCs/Others.
This paper reports the findings of a study on the children’s engagement in work and the associated trade-offs from working in fisheries on the Volta Lake in Ghana. Data for the paper comes from survey conducted with 342 children, including 201 males and 141 females working on the Volta Lake together with semi-structured interviews conducted with 30 of the children surveyed. What emerges from survey and interview data are that work is a central part of children’s learning, in making and maintaining their identity as good children, meeting school and personal expenses, and contributing to household livelihood building. There is evidence of negative effects of children’s work, including tiredness, bodily pain and impacts on school attendance and academic performance. These negative consequences are not isolated but widely reported among participants and must be weighed alongside the benefits children derive from work. The paper makes a strong case for the need for policies to foster the benefits associated with children’s work and at the same time address the cost of work on children’s physical health and schooling outcomes, even in the context where children themselves do not frame their experiences in terms of harm.
This study examines the associations between natural resource dependency and population health outcomes among developing countries from 2000 to 2020. Using a cross-national time-series analysis, it explores how resource reliance is associated with key health indicators, including life expectancy, infant mortality, and under-five mortality rates. The results show that higher resource dependency is significantly associated with poorer health outcomes—characterized by lower life expectancy and higher infant and under-five mortality rates. Mediation analysis identifies two primary pathways underlying these associations: the crowding-out of government health spending and weakened governance quality. Reduced health spending emerges as the main mediating mechanism, accounting for approximately 18–22
In a global context of geopolitical volatility and environmental crises, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compelled Global North governments to prioritise energy security, accelerating the mining of critical minerals. This article investigates how, in Global South extractive economies, elite bargaining over ecological transition policies tends de facto to favour Global North energy needs over national objectives. Applying a political settlements lens to mineral-rich Chile and Ecuador under Presidents Boric and Lasso, we show that elites captured ecological transition reforms in both countries, albeit to different extents, depending on their leverage within national power structures and international supply chains. Confirming our core argument, we find that the interplay between Global North energy agendas and domestic power distribution facilitates a policy shift from ecological to energy transition. This shift was more discernible in Chile, where power is concentrated among mining elites and the economy is heavily dependent on international mineral markets.
To conduct high-quality international development research, teams must fully include diverse researchers who contribute to knowledge creation. This paper highlights the often-overlooked digital divide within international research teams and examines how systematically creating a collaborative plan and process that addresses use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) within research teams can improve inclusion, particularly for researchers with disabilities, from different geographic locations and income levels. We used a cross-sectional, mixed methods, participatory research approach to collect data from members of the PIRL Project, who lived primarily in North America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Members included community and academic researchers, some with disabilities, low incomes, and differing educational and employment backgrounds, all with a shared objective to collaboratively improve research capabilities. Mitigation strategies to overcome digital divide inequities included collaborative ICT planning, use of smartphones, free apps, and training. The Capability Approach framed reflexive analysis of the results.
This paper analyses the terms on which small and medium poultry producers are able to enter and compete effectively in South Africa. The governance arrangements for access to key inputs in the form of breeding stock and feed are influenced by global concentration in animal genetics mediated by licensing to the lead South African producers. The introduction of contract farming arrangements is evaluated in light of the international literature on such arrangements in the poultry industry. In South Africa, contract farming is promoted by the government together with the South African Poultry Association as an effective avenue to increase the participation of SME producers. By employing theories of value chain governance, bargaining and institutional power and barriers to entry, this paper critically assesses the incentives for contract farming and its implications in terms of power asymmetries, value creation and value extraction in the poultry value chain. It finds that SME poultry producers are squeezed in exploitative relationships and that contract farming entrenches subordinate inclusion. The existing institutional governance mechanisms do not address the underlying power imbalances.
The study explores whether participatory translation can enhance linguistic inclusion in NGO development work. In Malawi, community members co-produced a bilingual glossary of development terms through a novel participatory process designed to create culturally resonant translations. Employing contribution analysis, the study evaluates the glossary’s impact on project delivery through focus groups and surveys across treatment and control sites. Findings indicate a plausible association between glossary usage and improved community understanding of the project, as well as enhanced communication skills of NGO workers. Its impact on community confidence in providing feedback was unclear, since it likely reinforced already strong relationships. However, the glossary may have shaped participants’ perceptions of ‘valid’ feedback, potentially constraining more authentic expression. Outcomes were shaped by enabling conditions, particularly trust, highlighting the need for relational groundwork. We argue that participatory translation can promote linguistic inclusion if it is embedded in long-term strategies of trust-building and social justice.
The study aims to analyse the impact of credit access on the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) by Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Togo. To achieve that objective, the study uses the general enterprises census data collected by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED) in 2018 and both the propensity score matching method and Lewbel’s approach. The results globally show that credit access has a positive and significant impact on the ICT adoption. Access to credit increases the probability of Togolese SMEs to adopt ICT by about 0.032–0.054, 0.025–0.118 and 0.020–0.100
This paper investigates the factors influencing workers’ choices between social networks and government-sponsored mechanisms for job matching and the subsequent impact of social networks on labour market outcomes. Utilizing a distinctive database from Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia, a recently established export-oriented industrial complex specializing in textiles and garments, the study focuses on low-skilled new entrants—primarily young, rural migrant females facing diverse information challenges. The findings reveal that individuals with strong family or friend bonds, advanced cognitive skills leading to heightened technical proficiency, and a higher occupational status are more likely to opt for social networks in their job search and matching endeavours. Furthermore, the findings support the notion that workers recruited through social networks enjoy wage premia. However, contrary to expectations, these wage premia do not contribute to longer job tenures; instead, workers tend to switch jobs more frequently, driven by other non-wage benefits.
Small-scale artisanal fishery in Ghana has encountered unprecedented challenges in recent decades, including dwindling fish stocks. Correspondingly, the sector’s institutional landscape has evolved to comprise a diverse array of institutions. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork conducted in two fishing communities in Ghana, this paper examines the complex interplay between formal and informal institutions, providing insights into how they work and are perceived. The findings reveal two distinct institutional orders: one based on state law with formal enforcement, and the other rooted in traditional authorities, indigenous knowledge, and religious beliefs maintained through social sanctions and consensus-building. Neither system is fully institutionalized, leading to varying degrees of legitimacy and enforcement, which negatively impact sustainable marine resource management and livelihoods. The paper discusses the potential of co-management approaches that aim to integrate diverse stakeholders and institutions. By addressing the complexities of institutional dynamics, the paper contributes to ongoing policy debates on sustainable fisheries management.
This survey paper examines the potential of social science fiction (SSF), an approach combining social science analysis with narrative and imaginative techniques of science fiction to explore the human consequences of global income inequalities. Although the social sciences’ influence on science fiction is well documented, the reverse, namely the methodological potential of science fiction in the social sciences, remains underexplored, partly due to a lack of systematisation. We pursue three objectives. First, to trace SSF’s intellectual genealogy and defining characteristics; second, to outline how SSF methodological tools could be applied in Development Studies; third, to illustrate SSF use across the social sciences. We argue that SSF could enable scholars to develop new conceptual and theoretical ideas about past, present, and possible future social orders. And when applied systematically, SSF offers rigorous tools for conceptual innovation in analysing emergent, complex, or under-theorised phenomena such as the dynamics of global inequalities in Development Studies.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed systemic fragilities in global agri-food supply chains (AFSCs), spurring a rapid but uneven digital transformation. This review critically examines the tension between the promise of digital technologies for enhancing resilience and sustainability and their risks of exacerbating inequity. Introducing the “sustainability paradox” framework, it analyzes the environmental and social trade-offs inherent in technological solutions. The analysis reveals divergent digitalization pathways: a capital-intensive, automation-focused model in the global north versus a mobile-centric, platform-based model in the global south. It is argued that the primary bottleneck to a just transition is institutional, not technological. A sustainable digital future for agriculture, therefore, depends on developing equitable, context-aware governance to ensure the benefits of the “digital harvest” are shared by all, moving beyond simplistic techno-optimism.
This paper examines how global value chain (GVC) participation influences economic upgrading, focusing on both product upgrading and process typologies. Using highly disaggregated EXIOBASE-3 industry-level data for 49 regions between 1995 and 2022, we distinguish between backward and forward GVC linkages and account for sectoral heterogeneity. The empirical results show that GVC participation significantly enhances both product and process upgrading. Accounting for sectoral heterogeneity, we find that mining upgrades through backward participation, supporting both product and process typologies, whereas forward participation in agriculture is negatively associated with both. By contrast, forward participation in manufacturing delivers significant gains in both upgrading typologies. Regionally, MENA’s integration into backward GVCs generates strong product-upgrading payoffs for mining and manufacturing.
This Special Issue presents five reviews of global evidence on topics relevant to climate action in developing countries. The SI presents one standalone evidence gap map on results-based payments and three systematic reviews on: transformational change, coastal and terrestrial water sector interventions, and behavioural science. We also present a realist review on just transition. Each review is accompanied by a companion protocol or approach paper. At a time of declining levels of international aid, the crux of the current climate challenge is to put into play incentives and mechanisms to frontload investments into interventions proven to work across contexts. These five reviews offer trusted evidence for policymakers to consider when setting policy and allocating scarce resources.
The growing global focus on sustainable development has led to a remarkable increase in the volume of literature surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. However, existing studies remain fragmented and lack a comprehensive synthesis. This study addresses this gap by conducting a systematic literature review of 68 peer-reviewed articles from the Web of Science and Scopus databases published between 2004 and 2024, integrating bibliometric analysis, thematic analysis, and the theory-context-characteristics-methodology (TCCM) framework. The combination of these methods enables a multi-dimensional mapping of the SDG-ESG research landscape, offering both structural insights and critical thematic interpretations. The analysis reveals a significant uptick in scholarly interest post-2021, alongside a wide range of theoretical perspectives, geographic contexts, and sectoral applications. By identifying research clusters and emergent trends, the study highlights key gaps in theory application, sectoral focus, and methodological diversity. Additionally, the study proposes a future research agenda to advance theoretical development and better align academic inquiry with global sustainability goals. Ultimately, this study bridges the gap between academic research and practical applications, providing valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers aiming to drive meaningful progress in the integration of SDGs and ESG practices.
This paper illuminates the role of the state in global value chain (GVC) governance, specifically the processes of distributive governance through which state agencies redistribute value towards certain GVC actors. Through a case study of the cashew value chain in Côte d’Ivoire, we analyze how the state’s regulatory authority, the Cotton and Cashew Council (CCA), seeks to move value up the chain to promote fair producer prices and a domestic processing industry. To do so, it must address structural inequalities in the GVC dominated by exporters who supply Asian nut processing factories with cashew nuts produced by Ivorian smallholder farmers. The paper examines Ivorian state policies and regulatory actions that aim to restructure the cashew value chain to address these nested challenges. The analysis focuses on the 2013 cashew sector reform, emphasizing the price setting mechanism, CCA’s primary regulatory tool for establishing a fair producer price. Our study reveals that the CCA’s distributive governance goals, although initially aimed at improving farming incomes and livelihoods, have become increasingly compromised by mounting state bias towards domestic nut processors. Rather than capturing more value in the cashew value chain, farmers are subsidizing the expansion of the processing industry. The paper contributes to the GVC literature by demonstrating that the state plays a distinctive and necessary role in distributive governance but that its effectiveness in redistributing value is constrained by its limited institutional capacity and its policy choices.
This paper examines the shifting political economy of tobacco production in Malawi, focusing on regional restructuring of the sector. Drawing on primary fieldwork conducted in Central and Southern Malawi, complemented by secondary data and document analysis, we explore how tobacco production has become increasingly concentrated in Central Region while declining in Southern Region. Integrating insights from Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis and Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG), we suggest this restructuring constitutes a diffuse power shift jointly shaped by powerful actors pursuing overlapping but distinct interests. The result is a reconfigured tobacco economy that entrenches corporate control, and exacerbates regional inequalities. This adds a ‘meso’ analysis to more familiar ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ accounts of diversification, thereby contributing to the literature on agrarian change, value chain governance, and the political economy of development in sub-Saharan Africa.
