Three key trends will shape the future development cooperation system: increasing fragmentation in both geopolitics and the aid architecture; growing pressure on public sectors across countries at different income levels; and the high degree of interconnectedness among societies worldwide.
In both the Global North and Global South, governments are testing new modalities to enhance service coverage, including low-cost services and subsidising private providers for health, education and other functions that have historically been considered part of the public realm.
As these adaptive models emerge, a deeper and more troubling question remains: can a world without a strong public sector or shared commitment to public goods truly sustain development cooperation and solve global challenges?
Reimagining the nature and role of the public sector, balancing the influence of powerful private actors and revitalising a national and global commitment to universal public services (education, health and civic space) will be essential.
{"title":"Different Worlds, Different Cooperation Models","authors":"Andrea Ordóñez Llanos","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70033","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Three key trends will shape the future development cooperation system: increasing fragmentation in both geopolitics and the aid architecture; growing pressure on public sectors across countries at different income levels; and the high degree of interconnectedness among societies worldwide.</p><p>In both the Global North and Global South, governments are testing new modalities to enhance service coverage, including low-cost services and subsidising private providers for health, education and other functions that have historically been considered part of the public realm.</p><p>As these adaptive models emerge, a deeper and more troubling question remains: can a world without a strong public sector or shared commitment to public goods truly sustain development cooperation and solve global challenges?</p><p>Reimagining the nature and role of the public sector, balancing the influence of powerful private actors and revitalising a national and global commitment to universal public services (education, health and civic space) will be essential.</p>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145037837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent disruptions in international aid, including geopolitics, technological innovation, and budget cuts, have prompted debate about paradigm shift. Drawing on critical Pacific scholarship and regional experience, we argue these changes represent consolidation rather than transformation, intensifying imperial logics that have long defined aid relationships. Donor dominance persists, private actors proliferate, and Pacific agency remains constrained with the aid sector. Yet an alternative paradigm already exists. Through resistance, recalibration, and pragmatic diplomacy, Pacific states and societies have long asserted development as relational, sovereign, and self-determined. We argue real transformation will not come from within the system, but from joining those pushing beyond it.
{"title":"Aid in the Age of Amazon: Imperial Logics, Pacific Resistance and an Alternate Paradigm","authors":"Dame Meg Taylor, Solstice Middleby, Suli Vunibola","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70030","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Recent disruptions in international aid, including geopolitics, technological innovation, and budget cuts, have prompted debate about paradigm shift. Drawing on critical Pacific scholarship and regional experience, we argue these changes represent consolidation rather than transformation, intensifying imperial logics that have long defined aid relationships. Donor dominance persists, private actors proliferate, and Pacific agency remains constrained with the aid sector. Yet an alternative paradigm already exists. Through resistance, recalibration, and pragmatic diplomacy, Pacific states and societies have long asserted development as relational, sovereign, and self-determined. We argue real transformation will not come from within the system, but from joining those pushing beyond it.</p>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dpr.70030","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145021788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The term “polycrisis” has become a buzzword of the 2020s. Elite responses are trapped in doom because they fail or decline to diagnose the root causes of crisis in the first place. Yuen Yuen Ang argues that the polycrisis is only paralyzing for those attached to the old, Western-centric order. For others, especially in the Global South, it presents what she coins as a polytunity—a generative and truly global moment to rethink the intellectual foundations of development.
Purpose
Ang coins the term polytunity to invert the gloomy, Western-centric framing of the polycrisis. She identifies its intellectual root as the industrial-colonial paradigm, inherited from past centuries of modernization, and highlights its distorting effects. Ang introduces an alternative paradigm: Adaptive, Inclusive, and Moral (AIM) political economy.
Approach and Methods
Drawing from her years of research on adaptive, coevolutionary development (Ang 2016, 2024), Ang critiques the industrial-colonial paradigm that underpins mainstream development. She contrasts “thinking in machine mode” with the realities of adaptive social systems, and the imposition of “one-size-fits-all” templates with the everyday practice of “using what you have” across the developing world. She illustrates with cases from China, Africa, and Indigenous communities.
Findings
AIM shifts development thinking and practices in three key directions: Adaptive: From machine-thinking to adaptive political economy. Inclusive and moral: From a colonial logic of assimilation to indigenous innovation. Ang also reframes the role of the state not as top-down planning, but as directed improvisation.
Policy Implications
The polycrisis appears doomed only when viewed through the lens of Western decline. By contrast, polytunity calls attention to openings for institutional and intellectual transformation. Ang's AIM political economy offers both new research and policy agendas—particularly for actors who are not beholden to the legacy of domination but aspire to build a more just future.
{"title":"Why the Polycrisis can also be a Polytunity","authors":"Yuen Yuen Ang","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The term “polycrisis” has become a buzzword of the 2020s. Elite responses are trapped in doom because they fail or decline to diagnose the root causes of crisis in the first place. Yuen Yuen Ang argues that the polycrisis is only paralyzing for those attached to the old, Western-centric order. For others, especially in the Global South, it presents what she coins as a polytunity—a generative and truly global moment to rethink the intellectual foundations of development.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Ang coins the term polytunity to invert the gloomy, Western-centric framing of the polycrisis. She identifies its intellectual root as the industrial-colonial paradigm, inherited from past centuries of modernization, and highlights its distorting effects. Ang introduces an alternative paradigm: Adaptive, Inclusive, and Moral (AIM) political economy.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Drawing from her years of research on adaptive, coevolutionary development (Ang 2016, 2024), Ang critiques the industrial-colonial paradigm that underpins mainstream development. She contrasts “thinking in machine mode” with the realities of adaptive social systems, and the imposition of “one-size-fits-all” templates with the everyday practice of “using what you have” across the developing world. She illustrates with cases from China, Africa, and Indigenous communities.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>AIM shifts development thinking and practices in three key directions: Adaptive: From machine-thinking to adaptive political economy. Inclusive and moral: From a colonial logic of assimilation to indigenous innovation. Ang also reframes the role of the state not as top-down planning, but as directed improvisation.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy Implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The polycrisis appears doomed only when viewed through the lens of Western decline. By contrast, polytunity calls attention to openings for institutional and intellectual transformation. Ang's AIM political economy offers both new research and policy agendas—particularly for actors who are not beholden to the legacy of domination but aspire to build a more just future.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145012378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Digital objectification and cyber bullying are a growing menace in the virtual world, with women bearing the brunt of the harassment and compromising their autonomy, dignity and safety. These harms are exacerbated by patriarchal norms and intersectional disparities (by race, class, and geography) and there is a lack of adequate legal and platform responses.
Purpose
This research seeks to assess the state of international law that deals with cyber harassment and objectification of digital objects, gaps in enforcement, and gender-sensitive changes. It discusses the ways feminist and intersectional approaches can be used to guide better laws, platform responsibility, and victim safety.
Approach and Methods
Based on a qualitative, comparative legal analysis, the study compares the national and international legislation, such as the EU GDPR, Violence Against Women Act in the U.S., and Information Technology Act in India, as well as the treaties, such as the Budapest Convention. Feminist and intersectional approaches to case studies of high-profile incidents are used to evaluate the systemic failures and good practices.
Findings
The research shows that there are disjointed and unevenly applied legal safeguards. The most frequent problems are jurisdictional difficulties, insufficient gender-related provisions, poor regulation of the platform, and victim-blaming culture. New forms of online harassment such as deepfakes and non-consensual sharing of images are out-pacing the law. The vulnerability is further exacerbated by intersectional factors, especially women of colour, those identifying as LGBTQ+, and those living in rural or low-income settings.
Policy Implications
The results support the necessity of harmonised, gender-sensitive cyber laws that consider online harms that are specific to women. The recommendations are to create digital consent laws, enhance international collaboration, require platforms to be responsible, enhance law enforcement training, and incorporate survivor-centred practices. The involvement of the global community and cultural transition is critical to the rights and security of women in cyberspace.
{"title":"Safeguarding women in digital spaces: Legal responses to cyber harassment and objectification on social media","authors":"K. C. Mythili, K. Nagamani","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Digital objectification and cyber bullying are a growing menace in the virtual world, with women bearing the brunt of the harassment and compromising their autonomy, dignity and safety. These harms are exacerbated by patriarchal norms and intersectional disparities (by race, class, and geography) and there is a lack of adequate legal and platform responses.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This research seeks to assess the state of international law that deals with cyber harassment and objectification of digital objects, gaps in enforcement, and gender-sensitive changes. It discusses the ways feminist and intersectional approaches can be used to guide better laws, platform responsibility, and victim safety.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Based on a qualitative, comparative legal analysis, the study compares the national and international legislation, such as the EU GDPR, Violence Against Women Act in the U.S., and Information Technology Act in India, as well as the treaties, such as the Budapest Convention. Feminist and intersectional approaches to case studies of high-profile incidents are used to evaluate the systemic failures and good practices.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The research shows that there are disjointed and unevenly applied legal safeguards. The most frequent problems are jurisdictional difficulties, insufficient gender-related provisions, poor regulation of the platform, and victim-blaming culture. New forms of online harassment such as deepfakes and non-consensual sharing of images are out-pacing the law. The vulnerability is further exacerbated by intersectional factors, especially women of colour, those identifying as LGBTQ+, and those living in rural or low-income settings.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy Implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The results support the necessity of harmonised, gender-sensitive cyber laws that consider online harms that are specific to women. The recommendations are to create digital consent laws, enhance international collaboration, require platforms to be responsible, enhance law enforcement training, and incorporate survivor-centred practices. The involvement of the global community and cultural transition is critical to the rights and security of women in cyberspace.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144918847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma Mawdsley, Glenn Banks, Chloe Sanyu, Regina Scheyvens, John Overton
Purpose
This article examines the Trump administration’s ‘war on woke’ as a key narrative in dismantling USAID in early 2025, arguing that its cultural framing is politically significant alongside material and geopolitical impacts.
Approach
Drawing on Project 2025 and a Lonsdale and Black blog as examples, we explore how ‘woke’ is cast as a threat to US values and interests.
Findings
Cuts disproportionately harm women, children, and marginalised groups, while emboldening conservative actors globally. Anti-‘woke’ narratives gain traction from inequalities produced by neoliberal globalisation; liberal aid arguments have lost voter appeal. Reclaiming ‘woke’ in its original sense offers opportunities for justice-based development approaches.
Value
Foregrounding the cultural politics of aid, we call for structurally oriented, globally connected solidarity that engages alienated domestic constituencies and addresses racialised inequalities in North and South.
{"title":"Taking (anti-)‘woke’ seriously: the future of development cooperation and humanitarian aid","authors":"Emma Mawdsley, Glenn Banks, Chloe Sanyu, Regina Scheyvens, John Overton","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article examines the Trump administration’s ‘war on woke’ as a key narrative in dismantling USAID in early 2025, arguing that its cultural framing is politically significant alongside material and geopolitical impacts.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Drawing on Project 2025 and a Lonsdale and Black blog as examples, we explore how ‘woke’ is cast as a threat to US values and interests.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Cuts disproportionately harm women, children, and marginalised groups, while emboldening conservative actors globally. Anti-‘woke’ narratives gain traction from inequalities produced by neoliberal globalisation; liberal aid arguments have lost voter appeal. Reclaiming ‘woke’ in its original sense offers opportunities for justice-based development approaches.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Value</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Foregrounding the cultural politics of aid, we call for structurally oriented, globally connected solidarity that engages alienated domestic constituencies and addresses racialised inequalities in North and South.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dpr.70031","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The re-election of Donald Trump in the US in a context of geopolitical disputes and armed conflicts has led major cooperation providers to divert resources from global development and humanitarian efforts. In addition, the growing complexity of current crises tends to blur the distinction between humanitarian cooperation and development cooperation.
Purpose
This article examines the impact of abrupt cuts in Official Development Assistance (ODA) on developing countries, with a special focus on USAID and South America, and identifies options for these countries to redress the loss of development funding.
Findings
While ODA has been losing relevance relative to other development flows and has long suffered from politicization and ineffectiveness, several least-developed countries still depend on ODA for significant shares of their income. Moreover, USAID funded many humanitarian initiatives which cannot be interrupted and resumed without significant costs in terms of their objectives. Finally, in addition to its quantity, the quality, channels and goals of development cooperation also matter: USAID financed largely grassroots organisations and thereby attempted to empower local stakeholders. These organisations have been hit the hardest by its dismantling.
Policy Implications
Developing countries should seek wherever possible to increase their self-reliance and shift the focus of international cooperation from the global to the regional level. Although China cannot be expected to replace historically dominant donor countries entirely, the diversification of funding sources and establishment of new South-South partnerships presents opportunities to reshape aid frameworks and reduce dependence on such countries. In addition, alternative funding models, such as triangular cooperation arrangements and Global Public Investment could help tap into new synergies and complementarities and ensure development efforts are driven by local priorities rather than external agendas.
{"title":"The Prospects for International Development Cooperation in Times of Geopolitical Conflict and Resource Scarcity","authors":"André de Mello e Souza","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70029","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The re-election of Donald Trump in the US in a context of geopolitical disputes and armed conflicts has led major cooperation providers to divert resources from global development and humanitarian efforts. In addition, the growing complexity of current crises tends to blur the distinction between humanitarian cooperation and development cooperation.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article examines the impact of abrupt cuts in Official Development Assistance (ODA) on developing countries, with a special focus on USAID and South America, and identifies options for these countries to redress the loss of development funding.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>While ODA has been losing relevance relative to other development flows and has long suffered from politicization and ineffectiveness, several least-developed countries still depend on ODA for significant shares of their income. Moreover, USAID funded many humanitarian initiatives which cannot be interrupted and resumed without significant costs in terms of their objectives. Finally, in addition to its quantity, the quality, channels and goals of development cooperation also matter: USAID financed largely grassroots organisations and thereby attempted to empower local stakeholders. These organisations have been hit the hardest by its dismantling.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy Implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Developing countries should seek wherever possible to increase their self-reliance and shift the focus of international cooperation from the global to the regional level. Although China cannot be expected to replace historically dominant donor countries entirely, the diversification of funding sources and establishment of new South-South partnerships presents opportunities to reshape aid frameworks and reduce dependence on such countries. In addition, alternative funding models, such as triangular cooperation arrangements and Global Public Investment could help tap into new synergies and complementarities and ensure development efforts are driven by local priorities rather than external agendas.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dpr.70029","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Global humanitarianism is undergoing one of the most turbulent periods of change in modern history. Empathy, understood not as sentiment but as the recognition of shared vulnerability and interdependence, has historically underpinned the rationale for humanitarianism. When empathy fades, the retreat of empathy is not just a crisis of compassion but a reflection of deeper political trends: the decline of ODA as a structuring principle, the securitisation of displacement, the instrumentalisation of aid, and the growing disconnect between innovation and inclusion. It demands a structural realignment in how global governance treats exposure to risk, capacity for resilience and responsibility for injustice.
{"title":"When Empathy Fades: The Collapse of Humanitarian Responsibility in a Structurally Broken World","authors":"Carlos Lopes","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Global humanitarianism is undergoing one of the most turbulent periods of change in modern history. Empathy, understood not as sentiment but as the recognition of shared vulnerability and interdependence, has historically underpinned the rationale for humanitarianism. When empathy fades, the retreat of empathy is not just a crisis of compassion but a reflection of deeper political trends: the decline of ODA as a structuring principle, the securitisation of displacement, the instrumentalisation of aid, and the growing disconnect between innovation and inclusion. It demands a structural realignment in how global governance treats exposure to risk, capacity for resilience and responsibility for injustice.</p>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dpr.70036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charles Godfred Ackah, Nana Yaw Agyeman Owusu, Robert Darko Osei
Motivation
The study assesses whether Ghana's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy improved firm resilience during COVID-19 and provides evidence to guide more adaptive industrial policies that can withstand future global shocks in emerging economies.
Purpose
This study examines the resilience SEZ firms in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on operational continuity, sales performance, and productivity.
Approach and Methods
Using firm-level panel data from 2018 to 2021, we employ a fixed effect estimation approach to compare SEZ and non-SEZ firms, assessing whether SEZs provided a buffer against economic shocks or exacerbated vulnerabilities.
Findings
SEZ firms were more likely to suspend operations and remain closed for longer periods than non-SEZ firms, suggesting increased exposure to supply chain disruptions and declining export demand. Sales resilience was also weaker among SEZ firms, with a slower recovery trajectory than non-SEZ firms, indicating greater flexibility in market adaptation. Productivity analysis reveals no significant resilience advantage for SEZ firms, with pre-pandemic performance playing a stronger role in determining post-COVID outcomes.
Policy Implications
The results challenge the assumption that SEZs inherently provide resilience to crises, highlighting the risks associated with rigid export dependencies and weak domestic supply chain integration. The study underscores the need for more adaptive SEZ policies that improve local market flexibility and strengthen industrial linkages to mitigate future economic shocks. These insights contribute to policy discussions on SEZ effectiveness in emerging economies during global disruptions.
{"title":"Special economic zones and firm resilience in Ghana: Evidence from the COVID-19 shock","authors":"Charles Godfred Ackah, Nana Yaw Agyeman Owusu, Robert Darko Osei","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study assesses whether Ghana's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy improved firm resilience during COVID-19 and provides evidence to guide more adaptive industrial policies that can withstand future global shocks in emerging economies.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study examines the resilience SEZ firms in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on operational continuity, sales performance, and productivity.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Using firm-level panel data from 2018 to 2021, we employ a fixed effect estimation approach to compare SEZ and non-SEZ firms, assessing whether SEZs provided a buffer against economic shocks or exacerbated vulnerabilities.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>SEZ firms were more likely to suspend operations and remain closed for longer periods than non-SEZ firms, suggesting increased exposure to supply chain disruptions and declining export demand. Sales resilience was also weaker among SEZ firms, with a slower recovery trajectory than non-SEZ firms, indicating greater flexibility in market adaptation. Productivity analysis reveals no significant resilience advantage for SEZ firms, with pre-pandemic performance playing a stronger role in determining post-COVID outcomes.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy Implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The results challenge the assumption that SEZs inherently provide resilience to crises, highlighting the risks associated with rigid export dependencies and weak domestic supply chain integration. The study underscores the need for more adaptive SEZ policies that improve local market flexibility and strengthen industrial linkages to mitigate future economic shocks. These insights contribute to policy discussions on SEZ effectiveness in emerging economies during global disruptions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144861682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ongoing and likely future cuts in foreign aid suggest that the basic model of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is effectively dead. The question is what can replace it.
Purpose
To critique the past and now dying system of ODA, and consider how countries can meet ongoing global challenges in an effective manner, in crucial areas such as poverty and hunger reduction, addressing the impacts of climate change and seeking to mitigate it, dealing with public health emergencies, etc.
Approach and Methods
This is a qualitative assessment, using some empirical data from secondary sources.
Findings
There were many flaws with the ODA system, with dwindling foreign aid, and donors’ decisions based on geopolitical considerations. Now it is time to reconsider the conceptual and practical basis of ODA to create a new paradigm of fiscal policy for the 21st century based on Global Public Investment. In this model, countries commit to pool resources and efforts towards common goals, especially in areas that address pressing global issues such as climate change, pollution, nutrition and health.
{"title":"Can the end of ‘foreign aid’ be the beginning of global public investment?","authors":"Jayati Ghosh","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70028","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Ongoing and likely future cuts in foreign aid suggest that the basic model of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is effectively dead. The question is what can replace it.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>To critique the past and now dying system of ODA, and consider how countries can meet ongoing global challenges in an effective manner, in crucial areas such as poverty and hunger reduction, addressing the impacts of climate change and seeking to mitigate it, dealing with public health emergencies, etc.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This is a qualitative assessment, using some empirical data from secondary sources.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>There were many flaws with the ODA system, with dwindling foreign aid, and donors’ decisions based on geopolitical considerations. Now it is time to reconsider the conceptual and practical basis of ODA to create a new paradigm of fiscal policy for the 21st century based on Global Public Investment. In this model, countries commit to pool resources and efforts towards common goals, especially in areas that address pressing global issues such as climate change, pollution, nutrition and health.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144861680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent years, foreign aid donors have tried to become more transparent, often by sharing information digitally. However, the politicization of individual aid projects has resulted in biased reporting, raising doubts about the legitimacy of aid in general. We therefore examine whether increased transparency leads to greater government effectiveness and public trust.
Purpose
Government agencies typically assume that greater transparency in public administration improves understanding of bureaucratic actions, thereby fostering trust in the government. In foreign aid, openness is believed to enhance public confidence and improve the effectiveness of governments. However, recent public and political reactions to the disclosure of aid information cast doubt on these optimistic assumptions.
Approach and methods
Using our sender-mediator-receiver model of a “fragile transparency loop,” we analyse how communication breaks down in German foreign aid. First, we focus on Germany as a donor that shares information through a digital transparency portal, examining the sender side. Second, we investigate the mediator side by conducting a qualitative content analysis of German online media articles. Third, we examine the receiver side by disaggregating the German public into several subgroups.
Findings
Our empirical findings suggest that, while donors assume a virtuous transparency loop, the reality can resemble a fragile transparency loop that is easily disrupted. The government may withhold information; mediators may spread misinformation; and the public may not receive information neutrally. These dynamics explain why, despite increasing transparency, donors may not achieve the intended increases in government effectiveness and public trust.
Policy implications
Donors should find a balanced approach to foreign aid transparency that upholds democratic accountability while avoiding information overload. Aid bureaucracies should tailor their disclosure to serve different audiences, including professionals with development expertise and the wider public, who may have preconceptions or be uninformed about foreign aid.
{"title":"Foreign aid transparency amid politicization","authors":"Heiner Janus, Tim Röthel","doi":"10.1111/dpr.70038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70038","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Motivation</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>In recent years, foreign aid donors have tried to become more transparent, often by sharing information digitally. However, the politicization of individual aid projects has resulted in biased reporting, raising doubts about the legitimacy of aid in general. We therefore examine whether increased transparency leads to greater government effectiveness and public trust.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Purpose</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Government agencies typically assume that greater transparency in public administration improves understanding of bureaucratic actions, thereby fostering trust in the government. In foreign aid, openness is believed to enhance public confidence and improve the effectiveness of governments. However, recent public and political reactions to the disclosure of aid information cast doubt on these optimistic assumptions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Approach and methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Using our sender-mediator-receiver model of a “fragile transparency loop,” we analyse how communication breaks down in German foreign aid. First, we focus on Germany as a donor that shares information through a digital transparency portal, examining the sender side. Second, we investigate the mediator side by conducting a qualitative content analysis of German online media articles. Third, we examine the receiver side by disaggregating the German public into several subgroups.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Findings</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Our empirical findings suggest that, while donors assume a virtuous transparency loop, the reality can resemble a fragile transparency loop that is easily disrupted. The government may withhold information; mediators may spread misinformation; and the public may not receive information neutrally. These dynamics explain why, despite increasing transparency, donors may not achieve the intended increases in government effectiveness and public trust.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Policy implications</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Donors should find a balanced approach to foreign aid transparency that upholds democratic accountability while avoiding information overload. Aid bureaucracies should tailor their disclosure to serve different audiences, including professionals with development expertise and the wider public, who may have preconceptions or be uninformed about foreign aid.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":51478,"journal":{"name":"Development Policy Review","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dpr.70038","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144861681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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