CDPR Centre for Development Policy and Research (SOAS)

15/03/2016

Study Feminist Economics and Development at SOAS, University of London, this summer! CDPR is excited to announce this important and innovative course - not to be missed! It includes lectures by Prof. Susan Himmelweit, Dr. Marzia Fontana, Dr. Alessandra Mezzadri and Dr. Hannah Bargawi.
For more info and to apply, click here: http://www.soas.ac.uk/summerschool/subjects/development-studies-and-environment/feminist-economics-and-development/

This course is designed for individuals looking to become familiar with debates in feminist economics and gender and development theory and their application to developing countries. The course provides a critical review of economic theories, methods and policy-debates from a gender perspective. It…

28/07/2015

The Centre for Development Policy and Research (CDPR) is pleased to announce the joint publication with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) of Policy Brief #9: “Addressing the Pressing Need to Reduce Global and European Imbalances”. This Brief has been written by Terry McKinley of CDPR and Giovanni Cozzi of the University of Greenwich.

This publication is the second of three joint Policy Briefs that are based on using the CAM global macroeconomic model to project future trends. It reports that while a conventional ‘business-as-usual’ scenario would do little to correct imbalances at the global and European level over the next ten years, an alternative scenario based on progressive changes in government expenditures, investment and real exchange rates could significantly improve projected outcomes.

However, even under the alternative scenario, the debt burden of Southern Europe (including, of course, that of Greece) would still remain unsustainable—underscoring the need for significant near-term debt relief.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/pb/file103905.pdf

23/06/2015

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Policy Brief #8: “Economic Prospects for Brazil over the Next Decade”. It has been written by Robert Jump and Terry McKinley, SOAS, University of London.

This Policy Brief is the third in a new series of CDPR publications, entitled ‘Brazil in Focus’, which draw on the expertise of researchers both at SOAS and in Brazil.

This research utilises the CAM global macro-econometric model to project economic trends for Brazil through 2025. One of its main findings is that though Brazil will likely face recession through 2016, it will begin to regain moderate rates of economic growth by 2017 and it will eventually achieve a current-account surplus by 2023. However, throughout this period the government will continue to run a fiscal deficit and face a consequent rising ratio of debt to GDP.

But the results of this CAM projection are based on minimal significant changes in the current trend of the global economy and no substantial policy changes in Brazil itself. Future research will investigate the impact of altering these underlying assumptions.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/pb/file103279.pdf

01/06/2015

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Development Viewpoint #85: “Critically Assessing Macroeconomic Policies in Brazil, from Lula da Silva to Dilma Rousseff”. It has been written by two Brazilian Professors of Economics, Fernando Ferrari Filho (Rio Grande do Sul Federal University) and Luiz Fernando de Paula (State University of Rio de Janeiro).

This Development Viewpoint is the second in a new series of CDPR publications entitled ‘Brazil in Focus’, which attempts to draw on the expertise of researchers both at SOAS and in Brazil.

Like Development Viewpoint #84, this Development Viewpoint critically reviews the macroeconomic policies implemented by the administrations of president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva and president Dilma Rousseff, both leaders of the left-leaning Workers Party in Brazil. It argues that despite generally progressive efforts to implement a developmentalist strategy, these administrations were hampered by the conservative inflation-targeting regime of Brazil’s Central Bank.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/dv/file102876.pdf

23/04/2015

This year again, SOAS, University of London will be offering a range of exciting and inspiring Development Studies summer courses, which will explore important contemporary issues in the development field, including gender, conflict, law, migration, NGOs & social movements, and global health.

Based on the participation of a range of world-class academics—including Dr Laura Hammond, Professor Nadje Al-Ali and Dr Gina Heathcote to only name a few—these courses will allow you to acquire solid foundations in the topic of your choice, through a mixture of academically rigorous lectures, readings, discussions and activities, which will total 46 contact hours. The activities will include film screenings, debates, guest lectures, museum visits, policy design exercises and more. Aimed at students, practitioners, activists and policy makers, the course will allow you to obtain, within a dynamic environment, a fresh perspective on vitally important development issues.

Application deadline 24 May 2015
A 20% discount is available for SOAS current students and a 15% discount for alumni.

Check our website for more information:
http://www.soas.ac.uk/summerschool/subjects/development-and-economics/

21/04/2015

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Development Viewpoint #84: “A Critical Review of Brazil’s Recent Economic Policies”, which has been written by Alfredo Saad-Filho, Department of Development Studies, SOAS.

This Development Viewpoint launches a new series of CDPR publications entitled ‘Brazil in Focus’, which will draw on the expertise of researchers both at SOAS and in Brazil.

This Development Viewpoint briefly reviews the economic policies implemented by the four recent administrations led by the Workers Party in Brazil. These include the administrations of president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (during 2003-06 and 2007-10) and president Dilma Rousseff (during 2011-14 and 2015-present).

Professor Saad-Filho suggests that the recent economic difficulties of Brazil stem, to a considerable degree, from having chosen to implement too many restrictive (but conventionally approved) macroeconomic policies, such as inflation targeting and tight fiscal policies.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/brazil-in-focus/file101875.pdf

24/02/2015

The Centre for Development Policy and Research (CDPR) is delighted to announce the launch of a new Working Paper series, which replaces our previous Discussion Paper series.

Entitled “Garment Sweatshop Regimes: The Informalisation of Social Responsibility over Health and Safety Provisions”, Dr. Alessandra Mezzadri’s Working Paper 30/15 presents evidence from the National Capital Region (NCR) in India to argue that there are significant limitations on health and safety provisions for workers in the garment industry for both factory and non-factory workers. This is largely due to high levels of labour informalisation, where corporations increasingly send work outside factories in order to avoid environmental health and safety regulations.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/papers/file100127.pdf

25/11/2014

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Development Viewpoint #83: “Are Ethical Initiatives Successful in the Indian Garment Industry? A Focus on Homeworkers”. This has been written by Alessandra Mezzadri, Development Studies Department, SOAS.

This Development Viewpoint draws on extensive survey research between 2004 and 2012 on labour conditions in the garment sector in the Delhi National Capital Region and its satellite centre in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.

Focussing on the large number of homeworkers in this sector, this DV draws on such survey research to argue persuasively that ethical initiatives, such as Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, have had, at best, only minimal success in helping to ameliorate the pervasive and deeply entrenched exploitation of these marginalised workers.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/dv/file97398.pdf

20/11/2014

The Centre for Development Policy and Research (CDPR) is pleased to announce the joint publication with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) of Policy Brief #7, “Can Conventional Macroeconomic Policies Prevent Persistent Stagnation in the European Union?” This Brief has been written by Giovanni Cozzi of FEPS, Terry McKinley of CDPR and Jo Michell of the University of West England.

One of three planned Policy Briefs, this first one uses the CAM, a global macroeconomic model, to project the outcomes for 2020 and 2030 of a continuation of conventional macroeconomic policies along with a significant rise in capital investment (based on the proposal of the EC President, Jean-Caude Juncker, for additional investment financing of €300 billion).

https://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/pb/file97253.pdf

31/10/2014

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Development Viewpoint #82, “2014 Ebola Outbreak Exposes Large Gaps in Financing Adequate Healthcare in West African Countries”.

The author, Robtel Neajai Pailey, Department of Development Studies, SOAS, illustrates that the current Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is largely a function of their political economy trajectories. Drawing on evidence from health-care expenditure data, she contends that, post-Ebola, there must be a radical shift in policy, involving not only a significant increase in the quantity of healthcare financing but also a marked improvement in its overall quality.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/dv/file96579.pdf

10/07/2014

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Development Viewpoint #81: “The Oppressive Labour Conditions of the Working Poor in the Peripheral Segments of India’s Garment Sector”.

This Development Viewpoint draws on research conducted in Delhi by the ESRC-DFID Research Project “Labour Conditions and the Working Poor in China and India”. This project has been carried out by researchers in the Development Studies Department of SOAS in collaboration with researchers in both China and India.

This Development Viewpoint focuses on the most marginalised workers in the Indian garment industry, namely, own-account workers, workers in very small workshops and individual homeworkers. The great majority of these workers are poor migrants from rural areas and are the most vulnerable and ‘invisible’ in the industry. Women homeworkers in particular are the most disadvantaged of all.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/dv/file93820.pdf

09/07/2014

The Centre for Development Policy and Research is pleased to announce the publication of Development Viewpoint #80: “Documenting the Lack of Labour Rights in India’s Construction Sector”.

This Development Viewpoint draws on research conducted in Delhi and Shanghai by the ESRC-DFID Research Project “Labour Conditions and the Working Poor in China and India”. This effort has been carried out by researchers in the Development Studies Department of SOAS in collaboration with researchers in both China and India.

This DV focuses on workers’ responses to a survey of labour conditions in the organised medium- and large-scale construction sector in the greater Delhi area. It also draws out comparisons, where relevant, with workers’ responses on conditions in the construction sector in Shanghai.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/dv/file93806.pdf