Improving social welfare in the developing world remains a top priority on the global development agenda, as policymakers and international development partners worldwide strive to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Using data on 40 African countries over the period 2010-2015, this...

Many approaches and tools have been utilized throughout the globe by public and private sector organizations to curtail the deprivations and enhance welfare of the poor. Islamic Microfinance is one of them and is rapidly getting popular in Muslims as well as non-Muslims majority population...

The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the credit expansion process on social welfare through the financial-monetary dimension with a focus on 22 economies from the European Union. In order to achieve this aim, the study seeks, on the one hand, to analyse the short-term dynamics (from...

We use queuing-related behavior as an instrument for assessing the social appeal of alternative cultural norms. Specifically, we study the behavior of rational and sophisticated individuals who stand in a given queue waiting to be served, and who, in order to speed up the process, consider...

Gender based taxation (GBT) has been recently proposed as a promising policy in order to close the gender gap, i.e. promote gender equality and improve women's status in the labour market and within the family. We use a microeconometric model of household labour supply in order to evaluate, with...

We use queuing-related behavior as an instrument for assessing the social appeal of alternative cultural norms. Specifically, we study the behavior of rational and sophisticated individuals who stand in a given queue waiting to be served, and who, in order to speed up the process, consider...

We use queuing-related behavior as an instrument for assessing the social appeal of alternative cultural norms. Specifically, we study the behavior of rational and sophisticated individuals who stand in a given queue waiting to be served, and who, in order to speed up the process, consider...

Acknowledging individuals' distaste for low relative income renders trade less appealing when trade is viewed as a technology that integrates economies by merging separate social spheres into one. We define a "trembling trade" as a situation in which gains from trade are overtaken by losses of...

Classical models of service systems with rational and strategic customers assume queues to be either fully visible or invisible. In practice, however, most queues are only "partially visible" or "opaque", in the sense that customers are not able to discern precise queue length upon arrival. This...

This note starts with a short review of the economic literature on philanthropy. Next, it provides some estimates of philanthropic giving in advanced and middle-income economies and discusses how innovative financial instruments can leverage charitable giving. The note concludes with a...