Development Research

We conduct research on frontier and emerging issues, as well as other economic challenges for countries in conflict and countries in special situations. We produce policy-oriented research papers and host briefings and seminars responsive to the needs of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Member States. We produce the Frontier Technology Issues which delves deep into specific aspects of a new technology. We contribute to the publication of the World Social Report (WSR), in collaboration with UN DESA’s Division for Inclusive Social Development and other United Nations agencies, covering selected long-term development issues and policies, particularly those which cross-cut the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

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World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024

Press briefing to launch the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024 on Thursday, 4 January 2024, 12:00 noon EST, UN Press Briefing Room, S-237 (Live on http://webtv.un.org)

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UN DESA Policy Brief No. 155: Accelerating middle-income countries’ progress towards sustainable development

Many MICs require international support to address current and long-term challenges. Eligibility criteria that rely only on income per capita limit available support – including access to concessional finance – without accounting for MICs’ multidimensional development needs.

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Briefing to ECOSOC on the ongoing work of the CDP

CDP briefing to ECOSOC members on its work on inputs to the ECOSOC theme and preparation of the 2024 triennial review of the list of LDCs

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EAPD PDF project

EAPD provides the following capacity development assistance under the Peace and Development Fund Rebuilding better and greener from the COVID-19 pandemic through enhanced design and implementation of sustainable national recovery strategies based on policy simulations Project: Strengthening the capacity of Government agencies to better utilize data and analytical techniques to inform strategies and decision-making processes on sustainable development through the use of quantitative modelling tools Duration: 2023-2027 Target countries: TBD Main activities: Reports on planning gaps and data availability identifying the areas in national development planning which the enhanced capacity will make the most contributions to and assessing the feasibility of applying the identified modeling approaches; Macro-economic, micro-simulation or CLEWs integrated modelling tools customized for each country, adapted for the unique circumstances of selected countries to inform COVID-19 recovery strategies and SDG implementation; National training workshops for each country on the policy simulation tools; Development of policy documents using the simulation results; Support to target countries to enhance national engagement in regional policy dialogues, and global meetings including ECOSOC, General Assembly, HLPF, and other international fora Reports and documents: Project brochure

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Measuring export concentration for identifying least developed countries

This short paper briefly describes the methodology of this new index and presents some empirical results. It also presents an extension that covers both export and import concentration.

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World Economic Situation and Prospects: November 2023 Briefing, No. 177

Industrial and innovation policies are gaining additional traction, becoming crucial aspects of many governments’ toolkits to support innovation, build resilience, and accelerate the green energy transition. There are, however, enormous disparities across economies in their capacity to implement industrial policies, particularly those to support science, technology and innovation.

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World Economic Situation and Prospects: October 2023 Briefing, No. 176

Despite persistent monetary tightening by major central banks, labour market conditions in most developed economies remained robust in 2023. Low unemployment and high economic activity are accompanied with continuing, albeit moderating, labour shortages.

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2023 Reports of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly

Development cooperation with middle-income countries (A/78/224) عربي, 中文, English, Français, Русский, Español

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UN DESA Policy Brief Special Issue: Financing the Sustainable Development Goals through mission-oriented development banks

There is an urgent need for channeling long-term risk-tolerant finance towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The paper argues that National Development Banks (NDBs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) can play a crucial role in mobilizing the needed capital.

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World Economic Situation and Prospects: September 2023 Briefing, No. 175

A massive gap in investment and the adoption of low-carbon technologies between the developed and developing countries persist, threatening the urgent need to accelerate the energy transition as well as the achievement of the SDGs.