ABSTRACT Persons with disabilities are more likely to be excluded from employment than those without disabilities, yet little is known about effective strategies to address this gap globally. This study is a process evaluation of a disability-inclusive employment programme STAR+, conducted in Bangladesh alongside a cluster randomised controlled trial. The intervention comprised a six-month apprenticeship for youth with disabilities to develop trade-specific skills, alongside additional disability-inclusive components such as workplace modifications. Using qualitative data from participants and implementers, triangulated with trial endline data and programme documentation, the study examines intervention mechanisms of impact and contextual factors. Findings highlight the acquisition of practical and soft skills (e.g., self-confidence) as key positive mechanisms. However, entry into waged employment was constrained by structural barriers, family resistance, and broader disability- and gender-related stigma. Overall, findings show that STAR+ was successful as a skill development programme but identify barriers to improved waged employment outcomes.

ABSTRACT Despite growing policy interest in financial tools to support rural households, little is known about which products are most effective, particularly for women. Using a randomized experiment in Burkina Faso and Senegal, we assess gender differences in the take-up and impacts of index-based agricultural insurance and commitment savings. Women are less likely to purchase insurance and more likely to invest in emergency savings. Insurance improves agricultural input use for both genders but has weaker impacts for women due to lower take-up – likely linked to higher basis risk. Savings products labeled for agricultural investment boost men’s outcomes but more strongly restrict women’s consumption than emergency-labeled savings. These findings suggest that gender gaps in financial product impacts stem from differences in both access and constraints, underscoring the need for gender-sensitive design. We recommend testing hybrid instruments that jointly address risks related to weather, health, and caregiving to enhance inclusion and effectiveness.

ABSTRACT The economic and social consequences of the shadow economy proliferation have been well documented, yet its reduction remains a major challenge in developing countries. This paper empirically examines the effect of country stability on informality. Empirical results resilient to a set of robustness checks consistently show that improving country stability is a necessary condition for reducing informality. Through mediation analysis, financial development, globalisation, and human capital are identified as key channels through which country stability contributes to informality reduction in developing countries. These findings carry important implications for policymakers, inviting them to strengthen national and regional initiatives aimed at guaranteeing country stability and reducing informality. To achieve this, it is essential to prioritise human capital development, build a more efficient financial system, and foster greater globalisation, as these represent the most effective levers for tackling informality in developing economies.

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores how Indigenous Knowledge (IK) can be integrated into inclusive education for students with disabilities in North Wollo, Ethiopia. Drawing on interviews, focus groups, and document analysis with 44 participants, the research finds that while IK holds great potential to enhance learning outcomes, its integration is blocked by systemic barriers. Specifically, unclear national policies, a Eurocentric curriculum that silences local knowledge, and teachers who lack training and confidence in IK-based methods all hinder progress. On the other hand, successful practices have emerged, including community engagement, culturally responsive pedagogies, Indigenous psychosocial care, and mother-tongue instruction. As a result, these approaches boost students’ participation, sense of belonging, self-esteem, and overall well-being. Finally, this paper offers practical recommendations to reshape learning environments, affirm cultural identity, advance genuine inclusion, and achieve epistemic justice for students with disabilities.

ABSTRACT Measuring soft power remains challenging, as existing indicators are often subjective, lack transparency, and fail to capture its inherently multidimensional nature. This paper introduces a novel Global Soft Power Index (GSPI) encompassing six distinct dimensions, constructed for a broad cross-country sample over an extended period. The framework enables comparative analysis both at the aggregate level and across sub-indices, allowing for a more granular assessment of cross-country differences in specific facets of soft power. As a macro-financial application, we examine the relationship between soft power and exchange rate dynamics. The results indicate that selected dimensions of the GSPI significantly contribute to explaining exchange rate volatility. Overall, the GSPI provides a systematic and comprehensive approach to measuring soft power, facilitating richer cross-country and intertemporal analysis by capturing its complex and evolving structure.

ABSTRACT Many countries have implemented policies designed to mitigate group-based or horizontal inequalities, with affirmative action programs being the most prominent examples. However, research examining the extent and motivations behind public support for such redistribution policies outside the United States remains limited. This study addresses this gap by investigating attitudes toward affirmative action in Nigeria – a nation characterised by pronounced political and economic disparities across ethnic groups and regions. Affirmative action in Nigeria is institutionalised through the Federal Character Principle (FCP) and operationally administered by the Federal Character Commission (FCC). Utilising original survey data from over 2000 Nigerian respondents, this paper analyses support for the FCP and FCC, as well as its underlying drivers. Our findings reveal that perceived societal benefits, especially the maintenance of political stability and the alleviation of ethnic inequalities, constitute significantly more influential factors shaping public endorsement of affirmative action than potential individual or group-level material gains.

ABSTRACT In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 80 million people live with a disability, and they are more likely to experience poverty and exclusion from development efforts. This article examines whether people with disabilities are at higher risk of chronic poverty in Peru, Chile, and Colombia. Using the method proposed by Bolch et al. (2023), we estimate the probability of chronic poverty by analysing the interaction between income poverty and multidimensional poverty. We use data from CASEN 2022 (Chile), ECV 2022 (Colombia), and ENAHO 2022 (Peru), applying a biprobit model to estimate the likelihood of experiencing income poverty, multidimensional poverty, or both simultaneously. Across all three countries, households with members with disabilities show higher levels of multidimensional poverty. In Chile, no significant differences were found in income poverty. Overall, households with members with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience chronic poverty than those without.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the gender-specific short-term impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown policy on labor market outcomes enforced in the Philippines in April 2020. More specifically, we employ the triple difference estimator, focusing on the ex-ante and ex-post differences between men and women working in areas subjected to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and those who do not. The findings indicate that the lockdown policy had a more detrimental impact on male workers than on females, partly attributed to the higher number of men engaged in sectors forced to suspend operations due to the lockdown measures. Additionally, the study identified significant variations across demographic groups regarding age, educational attainment, and the number of children. The insights gathered can help policymakers create targeted interventions to lessen the gender-specific impacts of economic downturns.

ABSTRACT In developing countries, governments are rightly concerned with generating enough jobs. However, focusing solely on the quantity delivers a partial picture, as socioeconomic sustainability and productivity also depend on job quality. This paper shows that although Egypt has experienced reasonable economic growth between 1998 and 2018, labour force participation declined and job quality appears to have worsened. Based on several Latin American case studies, this paper uses the Alkire/Foster method to measure poor-quality employment among wage-earners in Egypt. Using cross-sectional data from the Egyptian Labour Market Panel Survey (ELMPS), this paper contributes by (1) showing that this methodology can be applied to a lower-income country; (2) quantifying the proportion of deprived wage-earners and the clustering of their deprivations; (3) discussing that the 2003 labour reform likely had adverse effects on poor-quality of employment. The methodology, results and findings are relevant to other developing countries around the world.

ABSTRACT This manuscript investigates the real estate sector in Santiago, Chile, examining how the distribution of value in residential construction projects reflects and reinforces labour market inequalities. Utilizing the Marx Ratio, the study measures the surplus value extracted from workers, providing a quantitative framework to explore the dynamics of value extraction and its effects on workers across twenty-eight projects. By analysing these patterns, the research offers insights into broader economic and social disparities within urban economic frameworks. The findings contribute to understanding the complex interactions between capital and labour and suggest pathways towards more equitable distribution mechanisms. Additionally, the study highlights how real estate investment and labour practices perpetuate or could potentially alleviate urban inequalities.