Inclusive Economies

Our work explores what characterises inclusive economies and how these can be achieved, particularly in a world where new technologies, rural to urban migration, and growing youth populations are disrupting and putting new pressures on people’s lives and livelihoods.

Our research looks at the impacts of business and markets on development and inequality and explores the potential for novel market-based solutions to work for the poorest and most marginalised based on gender, ethnicity and disability.  It explores alternatives that enable workers, consumers and communities to have a real voice.

It continues to revitalise debates on agriculture as a key pathway out of poverty and towards inclusion, particularly for young people. Our work is focused on identifying what opportunities exist in a period of agricultural commercialisation and rural transformation and how far different groups are able to access them.  It also understands how new technologies such as drones or blockchains pose risks, but can also be harnessed to improve the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people.  In a rapidly urbanising world where cities have become focal points for economic growth, jobs and innovation but also for poverty, inequality, vulnerability and conflict, our work explores what this means for both urban and rural people, and the opportunities and challenges they face in living safe and fulfilling lives.

People

Jodie Thorpe

Research Fellow

Philip Mader

Research Fellow

Richard Jolly

Research Associate

Ana Pueyo

Research Fellow

Carlos Fortin

Research Associate

Rachel Sabates-Wheeler

Research Fellow

Keetie Roelen

IDS Honorary Associate

Giel Ton

Research Fellow

Programmes and centres

Projects

Recent work

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Opinion

To improve lives in Afghanistan, international efforts must step up

Afghanistan's political and humanitarian crisis has deteriorated since the arrival of the Taliban in August 2021. Several major actors, including UN agencies and large INGOs have now reached a point where they can no longer operate in the country in the current environment. This situation is...

27 April 2023

Student Opinion

Why I started a business that impacts people and the planet

Entrepreneur Pauline Koelbl was in the first cohort to study MA Poverty & Development. She has set up a gender lens investment fund called ShEquity, which aims to close the gender funding gap in Africa. Watch a video of Pauline’s interview about how IDS has shaped her career, or read excerpts...

Pauline Koelbl

26 April 2023

Opinion

Maize markets in Zimbabwe: a complex web of hidden activity

This year looks like it will be a bumper harvest, with the recently published crop assessment expecting a massive 2.3 million tonnes of maize, up 58% from last year. Maize is central to a complex web of small-scale businesses supporting production, transport, processing and marketing. These...

25 April 2023

News

Looking back to move development forward – with Robert Chambers

In this special episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast, IDS Researcher Stephen Thompson and IDS Research Officer Mariah Cannon interview Professor Robert Chambers who is one of the most influential and prolific scholars to write about participation, poverty, and knowledge in development...

25 April 2023

Brief

Diffusion of OECD Transfer Pricing Regulations in Eastern Africa: Agency and Compliance in Governing Profit-Shifting Behaviour

ICTD Research in Brief;85

Eastern African countries have codified transfer pricing regulations in their efforts to ring fence corporate tax revenue against profit shifting by multinational companies. Kenya (in 2006), Uganda (2011) and Rwanda (2020) used the dominant OECD transfer pricing guidelines as a template for...

Cassandra Vet

21 April 2023

Why learn with us.

In an extraordinary time of challenge and change, we use more than 50 years of expertise to transform development approaches that create more equitable and sustainable futures. The work you do with us will help make progressive change towards universal development; to build and connect solidarities for collective action, locally and globally. The University of Sussex has been ranked 1st in the world for Development Studies for the past five years (QS World University Rankings by Subject).