This paper explores the processes behind commodity price determination, focusing on critical metals like copper, cobalt, and lithium in the context of green transitions. Conceptually, we link extractive industry concepts in GPNs with sociological price-making approaches and an infrastructural perspectives. Rather than passive discoveries, world commodity prices result from contested price-making [...]

The Paris Agreement reaffirmed the commitment to provide USD 100 billion in international climate finance to developing countries by 2020. This Working Paper delves into the history and challenges of international climate finance. We emphasize the complexities tied to diverse definitions and accounting practices, leading to disputes over climate finance figures, as well as the struggle of [...]

Commodity markets have reacted to the COVID-19 crisis with drastic price movements and changes in production and demand. As the vast majority of countries in the Global South are persistently dependent on commodities, these countries face the serious risk that the simultaneous crises in health, financial and commodity sectors mutually reinforce each other. This article outlines the current [...]

In many parts of the world, migration has become a controversially debated issue and a policy priority. Indeed, also development policies are increasingly including efforts to prevent migration with foreign aid. Education and TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) are a part of the toolkit. Yet, while political attention is high, research on the potential role of education and TVET [...]

Blockchain technologies are seen as a key solution to contain poor social and environmental production conditions in many global value chains (GVCs) through more transparency and traceability. The new ÖFSE briefing paper presents the basic concepts behind these technologies and discusses the opportunities and limits of these applications in GVCs. To overcome the main challenges from chain [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified discussions about the digital revolution, but has also brought to light the pitfalls of accelerated digitalization in terms of rising inequality and exclusion. In development policy, digitalization is viewed both as a risk in terms of the digital divide and as a major opportunity for economic development. Human capabilities rank as one of the key preconditions [...]