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1. From Stunt to Substance: An assessment of IMF engagement with civil society

Author:
Nabil Abdo, Nadia Daar, and Alex Ray
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is doling out billions of dollars, influencing economies around the world through its finance, and through the policies it expects governments to implement in return for the funds. But who has a say in those decisions? This paper presents case study research from Pakistan, Tunisia, Egypt, Ecuador, Argentina, Zambia and Ghana to assess the extent and meaningfulness of IMF engagement with civil society. With findings on power, motivations, impact and the importance of civic space considerations, the paper makes the case for significantly improved engagement, and recommends how to do so systematically, meaningfully and safely.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, International Cooperation, and IMF
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. The Assault of Austerity: How prevailing economic policy choices are a form of gender-based violence

Author:
Dana Abed and Fatimah Kelleher
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
This briefing paper argues that austerity measures are a form of gender-based violence against women, girls and non-binary people, and lays out clear examples of how fiscal consolidation affects them. Its core argument is that ending austerity must be a priority. The policies that deliver austerity’s deadly consequences can no longer be marketed as the ‘logical’ and ‘inevitable’ economic options that they have been for decades, and certainly not by any government that claims a commitment to gender equality or ending gender-based violence. Austerity takes away from those who need it most, while ignoring common-sense ways to improve both revenue and prosperity. The paper goes on to share feminist economic alternatives offer pathways that can protect the Majority World from completely avoidable suffering.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Based Violence, Identity, and Gender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Food for Thought: Investing in a sustainable food system

Author:
Marta Piazza
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The focus on profit maximization at the expense of workers, farmers, and women have helped companies reap huge profit margins in the short-term, but as COVID-19 has revealed, it has come at the cost of rights violations. Such costs are no longer considered an acceptable business risk. As human rights gains prominence in investor-company engagement, this briefing note provides information to investors about the risks of ignoring human rights impacts, evidence about the rights violations that persist in the food sector despite company action and charts a way for investors to build a resilient food system given their outsized influence.
Topic:
Economics, Business, Profit, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Tax Incentives in the Global South

Author:
Megan Baddeley, Matti Kohonen, Ewan Livingston, and Radhika Sarin
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
This joint briefing from Oxfam, Christian Aid, ActionAid and the CBI reflects a growing convergence between businesses and tax advocacy groups on the use of tax incentives in the Global South. It argues that tax incentives can be a useful tool in promoting decent jobs and growth. But it also contends that too often tax incentives are used in inefficient and ineffective ways, and in the worst cases are entirely redundant. We hope that its message will be heard by policy makers around the world, and that it will contribute to better policy making that encourages responsible investment. Promoting domestic resource mobilization should mean that governments have more money to invest in essential public services to tackle poverty.
Topic:
Economics, Tax Systems, Fiscal Policy, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Global South

5. The Future of Business: Shaping Inclusive Growth in South-East Asia

Author:
Shubert Ciencia and Alex Maitland
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
South-East Asia has seen remarkable economic growth over recent decades but also faces serious challenges, especially growing levels of inequality. Solutions are emerging, and the region’s leaders have agreed that inclusive growth is the way forward. Inclusive economies need inclusive businesses. Although at an early stage, we’re witnessing the potential for business to deliver the solutions. This discussion paper reviews the issues faced in the region, how business can be part of the solution through a spectrum of approaches, ways in which social enterprise models can be supported to thrive, and makes recommendations for the region’s businesses.
Topic:
Economics, Regional Cooperation, Innovation, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia

6. A Tale of Two Britains: Inequality in the UK

Author:
Sarah Dransfield
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Inequality is a growing problem in the UK. Whilst austerity measures in Britain continue to hit the poorest families hardest, a wealthy elite have seen their incomes spiral upwards, exacerbating income inequality which has grown under successive governments over the last quarter of a century.
Topic:
Economics, Poverty, and Governance
Political Geography:
Britain and United Kingdom

7. Effective Public Policies and Active Citizenship: Brazil's experience of building a food and nutrition security system

Author:
Marília Leão and Renato S. Maluf
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Brazil has achieved promising results in the fight against hunger and poverty. This paper describes the path toward building a new governance framework for the provision of public policies that initiated a virtuous cycle for the progressive elimination of hunger and poverty. However, it is important to emphasize that the country continues to be characterized by dynamics that generate inequalities and threaten social and environmental justice.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Poverty, Food, and Governance
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

8. Riding the Wave of Reform: Fast-tracking Myanmar's future with good quality aid

Author:
Jasmine Burnley and Javier Pereira
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In 2011, following decades of isolation, Myanmar embarked on an unprecedented reform process, raising hopes for a new democracy. These reforms have been welcomed by the international community with rising levels of aid. If properly handled and spent, aid offers an opportunity to harness Myanmar's economic potential and make it work for poor people – reducing inequality, providing essential services, building resilience, and promoting sustainable investment. This paper explores what good-quality aid should look like for Myanmar, what it could deliver for those living in poverty, and what decision makers can learn from other countries, to ensure that aid is a catalyst for democratic reform, equitable growth, and peace.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia and Myanmar

9. Working for the Few: Political capture and economic inequality

Author:
Ricardo Fuentes-Nieva and Nicholas Galasso
Publication Date:
01-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In November 2013, the World Economic Forum released its 'Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014', in which it ranked widening income d is parities as the second greatest worldwide risk in the coming 12 to 18 months. Based on those surveyed, inequality is 'impacting social stability within countries and threatening security on a global scale.' Oxfam shares its analysis, and wants to see the 2014 World Economic Forum make the commitments needed to counter the growing tide of inequality.
Topic:
Security, Democratization, Economics, Political Economy, Poverty, and Social Stratification

10. Working for the Many: Public services fight inequality

Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Economic inequality – the skewed distribution of income and wealth – is soaring. Oxfam's own research has found that the 85 richest individuals in the world have as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population. Economic inequality is also putting lives on the line – more than 1.5 million lives are lost each year due to high income inequality in rich countries alone. A recent study of 93 countries estimated that reducing the income share of the richest 20 per cent by just one percentage point could save the lives of 90,000 infants each year. Estimates also show that failing to tackle inequality will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the price tag of ending poverty, putting the achievement of any new post-2015 poverty goals in jeopardy.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, Poverty, Monetary Policy, and Reform
Political Geography:
India

11. A Dangerous Diversion: Will the IFC's flagship health PPP bankrupt Lesotho's Ministry of Health?

Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The Queen 'Mamohato Memorial Hospital, which opened in October 2011, was built to replace Lesotho's old main public hospital, the Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) Hospital, in the capital, Maseru. It is the first of its kind in Africa – and in any low-income country – because all the facilities were designed, built, financed, and operated under a public – private partnership (PPP) that includes delivery of all clinical services. The PPP was developed under the advice of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group. The promise was that the PPP would provide vastly improved, high-quality healthcare services for the same annual cost as the old public hospital.
Topic:
Economics, International Cooperation, International Organization, International Trade and Finance, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
Africa

12. We No Longer Share the Land: Agricultural change, land, and violence in Darfur

Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Small-scale traditional agriculture provides the foundation of economic, political, and social life in Sudan's Darfur region. Traditionally, it included shifting crop cultivation and agro-pastoral livestock herding, with different ethnic groups specializing in each activity. Under this system, rights over land were not exclusive; various overlapping rights prevailed, and land use was not permanent. These arrangements allowed for the exchange of production inputs (manure for fertilizer, crop residues for animal feed), and permitted the different ethnic groups to coexist peacefully to their mutual advantage.
Topic:
Political Violence, Agriculture, Climate Change, and Economics
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

13. Smallholders at Risk: Monoculture expansion, land, food and livelihoods in Latin America

Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Greater investment in agriculture is needed to reduce rural poverty and improve food security. This means not simply increasing supply but ensuring that adequate, nutritious food is accessible to every person at all times. How investment is made, its context and conditions, is at least as important as how much is invested.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Markets, and Food
Political Geography:
South America and Latin America

14. Who Wants to Farm? Youth Aspirations, Opportunities and Rising Food Prices

Author:
Jennifer Leavy and Naomi Hossain
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Who wants to farm? In an era of land grabs and environmental uncertainty, improving smallholder productivity has become a higher priority on the poverty and food security agenda in development, focusing attention on the next generation of farmers. Yet emerging evidence about the material realities and social norms and desires of young people in developing countries indicates a reasonably widespread withdrawal from work on the land as an emerging norm. While de-agrarianisation is not new, policymakers are correct to be concerned about a withdrawal from the sector: smallholder productivity growth, and agricultural transformation more broadly, depend in part on the extent to which capable, skilled young people can be retained or attracted to farming, and on policies that support that retention. So who wants to farm, and under what conditions? Where are economic, environmental and social conditions favourable to active recruitment by educated young people into farming? What policy and programmatic conditions are creating attractive opportunities in farming or agro-food industry livelihoods?
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, and Food
Political Geography:
Africa and Latin America

15. The G20 and Gender Equality: How the G20 can advance women's rights in employment, social protection and fiscal policies

Author:
Wakefield Shawna
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In its 'World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development', the World Bank asserted that gender equality was a core development objective in its own right and also 'smart economics' The same year, in their Los Cabos Declaration, G20 leaders committed to tackling the barriers to women's full economic and social participation and to expanding opportunities for women in their countries. Oxfam supports this commitment, and calls on the G20 to go further and assess the entirety of their agenda and actions in the light of development and rights-based commitments to women's rights and gender equality.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, Politics, Labor Issues, and Sociology

16. Delivering Prosperity in Myanmar's Dryzone: Lessons from Mandalay and Magwe on realizing the economic potential of small-scale farmers

Author:
Jodie Thorpe
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Myanmar is undergoing intense and rapid changes. Policies formulated today will determine the future path of political and economic development. Modernization of the country's agricultural sector is, rightly, a priority. However, mechanization and large–scale agricultural investment is not the only option. Small farm development provides a commercially viable option with better outcomes in terms of poverty reduction and positive impacts on other sectors. Small farms absorb labour, allow communities to build assets and help local markets flourish. It is crucial that Myanmar promotes the right type of agricultural investment – that which supports the country's millions of small-scale farmers and farm labourers, as well as their families.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, and Food
Political Geography:
Myanmar

17. Fiscal Justice to Reduce Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author:
Itriago Déborah
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Despite economic growth and the reduction of both poverty and inequality that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has experienced during the last decade, it still remains the most unequal region in the world.
Topic:
Economics, Political Economy, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Latin America and Caribbean

18. Women's Economic Leadership in Asia: A review of WEL programming

Author:
Bowman Kimberly
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
This report summarizes an internal review of Women‟s Economic Leadership (WEL) programming in Asia. Conducted by an internal MEL advisor in 2013–2014, the review draws upon project documentation, evaluation reports, site visits and staff and partner interviews to try and reflect how WEL programming is being implemented by Oxfam and partners in Asia. Part of a formative evaluation activity, the report aims to help gather and consolidate good practice, based on what Oxfam project teams and partners have learned through recent experience and evaluation. There are at least four distinct topics covered in this report that may be of specific interest to readers.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Asia

19. Even it Up: Time to end extreme inequality

Author:
Emma Seery and Ana Arendar
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Nthabiseng was born to a poor black family in Limpopo, a rural area in South Africa. On the same day, Pieter was born nearby in a rich suburb of Cape Town. Nthabiseng's mother had no formal schooling and her father is unemployed, whereas Pieter's parents both completed university education at Stellenbosch University and have well-paid jobs.
Topic:
Corruption, Economics, Gender Issues, and Social Stratification
Political Geography:
South Africa

20. Wages and Labor Market Slack: Making the Dual Mandate Operational

Author:
Adam S. Posen and David G. Blanchflower
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In this paper we examine the impact of rises in inactivity on wages in the US economy and find evidence of a statistically significant negative effect. These nonparticipants exert additional downward pressure on wages over and above the impact of the unemployment rate itself. This pattern holds across recent decades in the US data, and the relationship strengthens in recent years when variation in participation increases. We also examine the impact of long-term unemployment on wages and find it has no different effect from that of short-term unemployment. Our analysis provides strong empirical support, we argue, for the assessment that continuing labor market slack is a key reason for the persistent shortfall in inflation relative to the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) 2 percent inflation goal. Further, we suggest our results point towards using wage inflation as an additional intermediate target for monetary policy by the FOMC.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
United States and Middle East