Arjan de Haan

International Development Research Centre | IDRC · Inclusive Economies

International development assistance—the "aid industry"—continues to be critical for overcoming the world’s development challenges, perhaps more so than ever given the global realities of climate change and the Covid pandemic. But how does this industry actually work? What practices does it follow, and to what effect? This book addresses these ques...

An industrial labour force emerged in South Asia, mostly in current India, in the second half of the 19th century, and continued to expand in the 20th century. New export-oriented industries created employment for many workers, many of them migrants from often remote rural areas, and mostly men. Despite this growth, the labour force structure did n...

The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the value of robust, policy-relevant research to inform decision-making and heightened the need for evidence-informed responses to address worsening inequalities. While international development research has the potential to contribute to a more equitable world, research funders grapple with how to ensure that t...

Many countries in the Global South are facing an unprecedented combination of crises that requires innovative responses and global collaboration. The members of the Vulnerable Twenty Group (V20) representing 48 climate-vulnerable countries described their situation as a “reinforcing vicious circle” of impacts from debt, the pandemic and climate cha...

This book examines women’s economic empowerment in a range of developing country contexts, investigating the societal structures and norms which keep women from achieving economic equality. Despite global progress in closing gender gaps in education and health, women’s economic empowerment has lagged behind, with little evidence that economic grow...

This chapter in 'Introduction to International Development' (revised edition, OUP, 2021) discusses the differences and similarities between inequality and poverty. Addressing inequalities requires a broader set of policies than addressing poverty. This chapter introduces the concept of social policy for that purpose: the broad set of public policie...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying policies of confinement or lockdown have amply demonstrated and are possibly reinforcing economic, social and gender inequalities. Because of the nature of the measures that governments took in response to the health crisis, migrants-including the millions of labour migrants in India cities-have been place...

This contribution reflects on lessons about research methods from GrOW, a large program on women's economic empowerment. GrOW encouraged multiple methods and inter-disciplinarity, and adopted experimental and quasi-experimental methods, survey data analysis, in-depth interviews, and PhotoVoice. We find that choices of and preferences for methods an...

This book chapter describes various international conceptualisations of South South Cooperation, with a discussion of Chinese definitions of SSC, the different perspectives and discussions amongst Chinese scholars, and their historical contexts. It discusses the role of the UN system in China’s SSC programs, how China views the North-South dialogue...

This draft chapter for a book by Bastia and Skeldon synthesizes knowledge about migration for work, and poverty and inequality. It describes common characteristics of labour migrants, what causes people to migrate, and what the impact of such migration is on people’s and home communities’ well-being, and the inequality within these communities. It...

Women’s labour force participation and wages are deeply influenced by social norms, and in developing countries, economic growth alone has no robust effect on female employment. How to measure women’s economic empowerment and assess impact of policies is a key concern of the GrOW program. This report summarises research findings of 14 projects in 5...

This chapter describes China’s aid, its current system and how this has evolved, focusing on its role in China’s broader foreign and international economic policies. It provides an historical overview of China’s aid, its continued role in international organisations, and dicusses the period since the early 2000s, marking the ‘rise of China’, the ec...

Discussion of how our GrOW/IDRC supported research can support feminist international development policy. Focuses on need for local researchers leading agenda, and uncovering root causes inequalities.

This paper prepared for a UN DESA expert group meeting explores more opportunities to address high and often growing inequalities, around the concept of inclusive growth. Existing data suggest that perceptions of inequality show great diversity across countries, and do not seem to square easily with inequalities as they are commonly measured. I sug...

Global poverty has reduced significantly over the last few decades, supported by economic growth and by policies that have benefited poor populations directly. But inequality has increased in many countries, particularly in countries where economic growth has been rapid, such as in China. In other countries, notably in Latin America, income inequal...

Global development goals for women’s economic empowerment require clear measures and definitions of progress. The GrOW program highlights that many definitions of women’s economic empowerment exist, and that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Indicators must be clearly defined and reflect local contexts and data availability. For development i...

International trade can be a driver of growth but can also disrupt markets and employment patterns, with different impacts on different segments of society. Research supported through GrOW shows that, beyond progressive trade agreements, a range of policy measures—and partnerships—are needed if women are to benefit.

This paper was prepared in support of the UN High Level Panel on Women`s Economic Empowerment. It synthesises the evidence on what works in supporting women-owned enterprises, concluding that multi-facted approaces are essential. It highlights research needs to better understand what and how enterprises grow, and the need for better gendered metric...

This background paper for the UN High Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment brings together the evidence on how the productivity of women-owned enterprises can be enhanced. It describes the economic benefits to women’s economic empowerment, the economic gender gaps, the social and institutional barriers, and what we know about solutions.

Debates on inclusive growth have gained popularity within academic, public policy and private sector spheres. This article asks the question whether this has the potential to help move debates and policy beyond a still dominant safety nets paradigm. The emphasis on processes of growth – and hence livelihoods, employment and entrepreneurship – rathe...

International development is changing rapidly, with the rise of new donors and charitable foundation, a growing role of private sector, and a shift away from untied aid. ‘Inclusive business’ or ‘shared value’ approaches are integrating social objectives into business operations, and new development financing mechanisms are following suit. This draf...

China’s foreign aid has received much attention, but the knowledge of its determinants is limited. We show how domestic political forces interact with international circumstances to shape Chinese aid policies. The article applies Carol Lancaster’s framework on the interaction of domestic ideas, institutions, and interests in the development of fore...

Presented at workshop on membership based organisations of the poor hosted by SEWA. It reflects on the role and history of India’s trade unions. SEWA came up in the context of the decline of one of India’s largest employer of non-agricultural labour of the twentieth century, which gave rise to what at the beginning of the twentieth century seemed t...

Presentation Institute of Social Studies 21 April 2015

International development is changing rapidly, with the rise of new donors and charitable foundations, a growing role of the private sector, and a shift away from untied aid. ‘Inclusive business’ or ‘shared value’ approaches are integrating social objectives into business operations, and new development financing mechanisms are following suit. This...

International development is changing rapidly, with the rise of new donors and charitable foundation, a growing role of private sector, and a shift away from untied aid. 'Inclusive business' or 'shared value' approaches are integrating social objectives into business operations, and new development financing mechanisms are following suit. This pape...

Based on a systematic review of the impacts of aid on both state capacity for, and elite commitment to, sustainable development, we conclude that a better understanding of the impact of aid has the potential to directly inform practices of international development. This requires better empirical insight into how donors interact with formal and inf...

This paper, using a new set of social development indices, explores the measurement of social development across Africa, and how this relates to broader development patterns and measurement. Development practitioners worldwide increasingly recognize the importance of informal institutions, such as trust, associations and inclusion, and their impact...

The rise of social protection on the development agenda is now an established fact. The global financial and economic crisis since 2008 at least temporarily reinforced this, though 5 years later the emphasis seems to have shifted somewhat to so-called productive sectors and the potential of graduation out of social protection. This article reflects...

Development practitioners worldwide increasingly recognize the importance of informal institutions—such as norms of cooperation, non-discrimination, or the role of community oversight in the management of investment activities—in affecting well-being, poverty, and even economic growth. There has been little empirical analysis that tests these relat...

This essay focuses on internal migrants, and links between migration and poverty and inequality. It looks at who these labor migrants are, how many they are, what socioeconomic status they belong to, what causes people to migrate, and what the impact of such migration is on people's and home communities’ well-being, and the inequality within these...

The rise of emerging powers in international development has raised many concerns. Major questions are arising regarding the future of a ‘Paris Consensus’1 in the face of emerging donors’ hesitance to join a forum dominated by countries from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The role of China in this context has rai...

This article compares group inequalities and policies of inclusion in four major emerging economies: Brazil, China, India and South Africa. Bringing together the evidence on inequalities in these large countries is important: they have a large influence on global inequalities, and it is critical to understand the different realities behind summary...

Abstract This introduction reflects on the current state of the debate on social protection, and introduces the contributions to this special issue. It describes some of the main themes in the debate, and why an apparently positive development in policy – direct benefits to poor people – has been contested. This highlights some of the dilemmas for...

China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) is the successor of the national scheme that existed through the 1970s. Developed in response to the decline in health care services following the 1978 economic reforms, NCMS was launched in the mid-2000s. Coverage is now nearly universal, through voluntary enrolment. The implementation framework allows...

The recent food, fuel and financial crises have triggered innovation in social protection programmes around the world. Existing evidence suggests that such programmes both protect people from shocks and enable them to participate in economic growth. This paper explores lessons learned in social protection initiatives across countries and contexts,...

China has lifted a record number of people out of poverty, has had sustained levels of economic growth—at environmental and social costs—started a global economic and political rise and is developing effective responses to the global financial crisis. It is making these transformations with institutions that continue to surprise international obser...

This article attempts to "globalize" the social policy literature, inspired by Ian Gough's argument that there are analytical lessons from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) welfare state literature, and the rise of social policy analysis elsewhere. This explores the nature of social policy in three contexts, in the ol...

This article discusses the ways in which India’s deprived groups – particularly Dalits and Adivasis – feature in Indian poverty discussions. The increasingly strong focus within the debate and policies under the ‘Inclusive Growth’ agenda tends to pay insufficient attention to the nature of exclusion these groups suffer from. Moreover, the article e...

This article explores the role of international development cooperation — or aid — in foreign policy and diplomacy. Based on his experience as a practitioner, Arjan de Haan makes the observation that the development debate, and in particular the search for effective aid, has neglected the political role of aid. Moreover, the high political symbolis...

Development practitioners worldwide increasingly recognize the importance of informal institutions -- such as norms of cooperation, non-discrimination, or the role of community oversight in the management of investment activities -- in affecting well-being, poverty, and even economic growth. While there have been many country- or region-specific st...

This paper discusses the relationship between labour migration and poverty in India. This is placed against the on-going debates on changes in patterns of employment and job creation in India, during the periods of economic liberalization, under the Inclusive Growth policies since 2004, and under theimpact of the global financial crisis, and growin...

The Financial Crisis and Developing Countries discusses and analyses regional and country specific impacts of the financial crisis in emerging markets and developing countries, covering all continents. Using heterodox and mainstream methodologies, the book develops a multidisciplinary perspective on the crisis phenomenon as it examines how the cris...

This paper discusses whether China's response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis is a 'defining moment', whether it is leading to a departure of China's export-driven development model and whether the large stimulus package is strengthening its social policies and leading towards a more egalitarian structure. Two years after the crisis, it seems Chi...

The global financial crisis has had a large negative impact on China's economy, particularly on employment, but the government responses appear to have been effective. This article focuses on the social policy responses after the crisis, and how these are situated in the austere social policies that have come about since the economic reforms starte...

Book Review The New Presence of China in Africa. Meine Pieter van Dijk, ed.

This book describes the role of social policy in the context of globalization and rapidly changing economies and societies in Asia. It compares the social policy experience of a number of countries with a focus on comparing East Asian (China, Indonesia, Vietnam), and South Asian (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) models and experiences. Over the last d...

This chapter explores the links between migration and poverty, and their implications for social policy. It argues that research on linkages between migration and poverty can, and should, start with knowledge about poverty itself: what it is, what causes it, what reduces it, poor people’s agency as well as constraints, and so on. Poverty research o...

The international community is under increased pressure to show results from the money invested through aid agencies. While support for international development has been large, there has also been a forceful critique. This paper argues that much of the public debate tends to be counter-productive, as it takes insufficient account of the diversity...

This article analyses poverty and undernutrition in two of India's poorest states – Orissa and West Bengal. We describe poverty and undernutrition in these two states, focusing on within-state differences. We argue that the persistence of the differences within Orissa is due to ‘structural inequalities’ in the access to and delivery of central gove...

Summaries What is the relationship between rural-urban migration and poverty? This article takes up this question, which is by no means new, but about which there is no consensus. The importance of migration for urban as well as for rural areas, for poverty and for poverty alleviation policies is considerable, and the article indicates that more re...

Summary Arjan de Haan's article introduces the concept of social exclusion and compares it to notions of deprivation that are more common in development studies. He argues that although there is substantial overlap between the different concepts and theories, a focus on social exclusion has distinct advantages: it makes the multiple and cumulative...

The use of research for policy making has continued to exercise minds of researchers and policy makers alike. Some researchers are interested to make sure their findings influence policy making, and research applications have become increasingly demanding in terms of showing potential impact of users, while others remain less comfortable with the i...

What do ChinaÂ’s dramatic transformations over the last 30 years imply for development studies and practice? China has lifted a record number of people out of poverty, and has had sustained levels of economic growth close to ten per cent per annum, albeit at well-documented environmental and social costs. China now appears to be developing effectiv...

The mutual benefits experienced by both hosts and visitors are evident in some of the earlier testimonies. But despite the appreciation expressed by the hosts, it is highly likely that the guests gain most. Apart from the practical pressures placed on poor families looking after visitors from unfamiliar cultures, it is the guests who sought out the...

This book re-evaluates the importance of social policies in shaping well-being and combating exclusion, and enhances understanding of how these policies are formed in a globalizing world. It emphasises the context- and path-dependence of patterns and policies of inclusion and exclusion, and provides a framework for supporting social policy making.

Are recent donor approaches compatible with a political understanding of policy processes in partner or recipient countries? This question is given increased urgency with the recent calls for and commitment to increasing financial flows, scaling-up of aid, and promoting donor coordination. Do these commitments sharpen the potential dilemma between...

While economic growth is essential for sustainable poverty reduction, economic growth in itself is not enough. The reasons for this are manifold, even if we restrict ourselves to a narrow income-based definition of poverty: the figures on the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction are averages, the deviations from these averages...

The period after the Second World War and the end of colonialism was one of great optimism, of reconstruction in Europe, possibilities for economic independence and realization of political independence in the South, together with pro-active social policies, the rise of the welfare state in Europe and socialist policies or mixed-economy models in m...

Since the period of adjustment, international development practices have evolved rapidly. A new generation of poverty reduction strategies has been developed, and new approaches to public policies, in particular governance. This chapter explores the implications of these recent trends for the formulation and implementation of social policy in the S...

As stated in this book’s introduction, ‘reclaiming social policy’ is an ambitious project. It draws on different academic disciplines and takes sides in theoretical debates, particularly around the separation of economic from social-policy analysis. The project implies a call for development agencies to come out of their silos of sectoral policy, a...

This chapter places the main thesis of this book in the context of two of the main development trends of the end of the twentieth century: the liberalization of economies that in the South is often expressed as structural adjustment and reforms imposed by World Bank and IMF, and the phenomenon of globalization, the increasing interconnectedness of...

Since the late 1970s, with the advent of conservative policies in OECD countries, and of structural adjustment in the South, the state has been under pressure. Social policies have been particularly under stress, with an emphasis on reducing budget deficits and increased targeting of benefits provided by the state. With the critique of structural a...

Social policy-making is not a technocratic exercise, nor is it directly determined by levels of economic development. It is shaped by national traditions that create path dependence — of institutions, ideas and practices. It is the outcome of political settlements, and often part of political projects, related to processes of nation building and th...

About a decade ago, many people argued that migration was receiving insufficient attention in the development studies literature, and in policy making.1 Much has changed since, with increasing research particularly on international migration (increasingly driven by security concerns), and a growing number of research and teaching centres and confer...

This paper explores the role migration has played in development studies, and in debates on economic growth and poverty. It argues that, despite a recent surge of interest in international migration and remittances, research on human mobility particularly for labour within poor countries does not have the place it deserves, and that it used to have...

This paper will reflect on the history of the India's trade unions of unskilled labour, their origins under colonial rule, transformation during the first decades of Independence, and decline with the crises of the old colonial industries. While referring to studies on trade unions elsewhere, the paper will focus on the fate of trade unions in and...

The extent and nature of disparities within Orissa, particularly, regional, social and gender disparities, needs no emphasis. Drawing on concepts of social exclusion, and on both quantitative and qualitative evidence, this article looks at poverty in its multidimensional nature, ranging from income poverty to human development indicators of health...

This paper explores links between globalisation and social exclusion, and the role of social policy in a globalising world. The discussion on globalisation focuses on the impacts of increasing openness in international markets and the integration of productive systems, while acknowledging that this leaves out a wide range of issues relating particu...

This article, drawing on fieldwork in Calcutta in the early 1990s, focuses on the variety of ways in which migrants'encounters with modernity have been structured and perceived. It takes 'modernity' as referring to a set of conditions relating to industrial work and living in the colonial and postcolonial periods. Rather than criticising the notion...

This paper discusses whether social funds can help to support local action for poverty reduction. It focuses not on the specific poverty-related projects that are supported by social funds, but the way social funds channel resources. In this context, this paper emphasizes the importance-and limitations-of the underlying poverty analysis informing t...

Whereas other contributions in this volume focus on contemporary migration, this article explores the role migration has played over a long period of time, in western Bihar, India. By doing so, it reinforces one of the central themes in this volume, regarding the importance of migration for livelihoods: this case study challenges the assumption tha...

Migration is a common and essential livelihood strategy in the risk-prone environment of Sahelian West Africa. But migration is not a passive reaction to economic and environmental forces. Patterns of movement are determined by context-specific and complex dynamics, mediated by social networks, gender relations and household structures. IDS-based r...

This introductory essay and collection concern the social processes within which migration for manual work is located and which are influenced by that same migration. Writing from detailed empirical studies of migration in South and South-east Asia and Africa, the contributors provide illustrations of the importance and normality of migration in ru...

This paper argues that the concept of social exclusion has relevance for richer as well as poorer countries. The concept’s added value is that it highlights central aspects of deprivation: deprivation is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, and deprivation is part and parcel of social relations. The concept of social exclusion can help to ground the und...

This paper aims to inform development policy debates with an improved understanding of migration. The paper starts from the idea that these debates pay too little attention to the contribution of migration to poverty reduction: policies tend to ignore migration, or have the implicit or explicit aim to reduce migration. The paper identifies possible...

This review of the literature concludes that development studies have paid insufficient attention to labour migration, and makes a plea to integrate analyses of migration within those of agricultural and rural development. It emphasises that population mobility is much more common than is often assumed, and that this has been so throughout human hi...