Development Economics and Social Resilience: Perspectives for Sustainability with or without COVID-19

Dear Colleagues,

Economic development impacts all of our actions—from our role as consumers to our role as producers, managers, or income distributors. Thus, this Special Issue intends to elaborate on how, within the current discussions, such changes in consumption and production processes, as well as in the distribution of resources, have arisen both in emerging economies (such as Brazil, China, etc.) and in industrialized economies in the early moments of the Industrial Revolution (Europe, North America, etc.).

Another aspect to consider here is the COVID-19 pandemic the world has experienced in the last few months, and how it has affected the tenets of Economics Science. Various authors have already described the inadequacy of the economic models of the most cited works as well as of the “mainstream” currents, and several have criticized the difficulty of these “mainstream” models in explaining how populations have reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic and how the various economic agents have sought benefits under so many restrictions, but also how new exercises in citizenship of public powers and of citizens’ associations have emerged.

 This Special Issue intends to discuss these two types of contributions together. On the one hand, the economic development strategies that have emerged in recent decades, supported by micro-initiative, micro-entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprises, and Social Economy initiatives, are welcome here; however, we also expect the focus to be on the many challenges and emerging opportunities that COVID-19 has brought to all economies together and to each economy individually, as well as to each economic agent or each group of agents (be they producers, consumers, taxpayers, states, non-profit organizations, etc.). We are seeking theoretical, empirical, and critical contributions.

 The Editors of this Special Issue recognize that economic development is about improving living conditions and human rights for every person. Thus, if one of the traditional “inputs” for such an improvement in living conditions goes through economic growth, other “inputs” are identified—the quality of democratic participation, the governance of States, or the pattern of distribution of resources (among them, income, public health, cultural consumption, and education), as highlighted by the vast literature on the topic. However, pandemic scenarios associated with COVID-19 have come to show us how the accumulated discussion on these topics has neglected the impact of regional/global pandemics on these development processes. Questions emerge in these scenarios—how do lockdowns influence and impact production and income flow? What instruments can leverage the savings and investment channels? Will we need new instruments and new actors for economic development? How have pandemics affected public governance and citizens’ rights (but also consumers’, producers’, and workers’ rights)? These are just some of the issues emerging in this challenging period. This Special Issue, therefore, invites all interested scholars to submit articles that seek to discuss these topics.

Prof. Dr. Paulo Reis Mourão
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• development economic
• COVID-19
• emerging economies
• social resilience
• nonprofit organizations
• crisis management
• human resource management
• development change
• world governance indicators