William Davidson Institute

William Davidson Institute
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The William Davidson Institute (WDI) is an independent, non-profit education, research and applied practice organization established at the University of Michigan in 1992. Through a unique structure that integrates research, educational outreach, field-based collaborations, and development consulting services, WDI works with businesses, universities, development organizations, and governments in emerging economies to implement sound business practices and speed the transition to global engagement. WDI also provides a forum for academics, policy makers, business leaders, and development experts to enhance their understanding of these economies.

WDI is the leading U.S. institution of higher learning fully dedicated to understanding and promoting actionable business and public policy approaches to addressing the challenges and opportunities in emerging market economies.

Learn more about WDI in the video below:

Posts by William Davidson Institute

Thursday
June 9
2016
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Amy Gillett

With Few Resources, Cuba’s Resourceful Entrepreneurs Find a Way

There are some 500,000 entrepreneurs today in Cuba, up from 150,000 in 2010. President Raúl Castro has called the huge state sector “bloated” and has declared private business a key part of Cuba’s new economic model. In May, the communist government passed legislation allowing small businesses to become legal entities, thus making the private sector official. Previously, entrepreneurs were classified as “self-employed.” But when we visited there in May we found that, despite resource constraints, entrepreneurship is booming in Cuba.

Categories
Entrepreneurship

Tags
business development, entrepreneurship
Wednesday
April 6
2016
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Nathan Rauh-Bieri

Tunisia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem – Why Youth and Tech are Vital Elements

Five years after protesters overthrew the Ben Ali regime and sparked the Arab Spring, an arid employment landscape (62.3 percent of college graduates are without work, as are 37.6 percent of young people) have fueled renewed protests. And yet, despite promises from the current government, jobs have not arrived. Is entrepreneurship not the panacea it is often made out to be?

Categories
Education, Entrepreneurship

Tags
education, employment, entrepreneurship, startup, technology
Wednesday
February 17
2016
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Kyle Poplin

Moving Beyond Charity: How CURE is changing how low-income patients perceive health care

CURE, the charity-based group of hospitals perhaps best known for its innovative treatment of hydrocephalus, might soon also be recognized for its seamless shift to a more sustainable model. That’s the goal of Derek Johnson, who has served since June as CURE’s director for development and sustainability, after many years as the executive director of CURE Uganda. He discussed the organization's innovations and its efforts to move beyond a strictly charity-based model in a recent interview with NextBillion.

Categories
Health Care, NextBillion Originals

Tags
global health, nonprofit, profits, video
Thursday
February 11
2016
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Amy Gillett

Fruitful Entrepreneurship Training Helps Women in Tanzania’s Ag Sector Flourish

Over half of the agricultural workers in Tanzania are women. Not only do women carry out some of the most labor-intensive work, but they also have insufficient access to financial credit and face discrimination in land ownership. The Innovations in Gender Equality to Promote Household Food Security program, a joint venture between USAID and Land O’Lakes International Development launched in 2012, aims to identify, test and then scale innovations that enable female farmers to more efficiently produce agricultural products and bring them to market. The big goal: Help women spend less time in the field and more time in higher-value added activities.

Categories
Education

Tags
agriculture, education, entrepreneurship, skill development, Women
Friday
January 1
2016
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Heather Esper / Yaquta Kanchwala Fatehi

The State of Assessment: Why the ‘assess or not’ debate continues and how we can move beyond it (Part 1 of 2)

Recent debate has focused on whether businesses should assess social, economic and/or environmental impact. How did we get stuck here? In this two-part series, Heather Esper and Yaquta Kanchwala Fatehi of the William Davidson Institute explore the evolution of assessment and how to move beyond the paralysis.

Categories
Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment

Tags
Impact Assessment, measurement, metrics, scale
NB Health Care

Friday
November 20
2015
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Paul Clyde / Derek Johnson

Actually, It IS Brain Surgery

Located in the small, remote town of Mbale, Uganda in the far eastern part of the country, the CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda might seem an unlikely place to pioneer a neurosurgery solution. The medical team operates in a resource-scarce environment, yet they've found a way to serve their population and the infants afflicted with serious brain disorders. They're so good at the procedure, it's been widely exported to the United States.

Categories
Health Care, Technology

Tags
global health, healthcare technology, innovation, invention
Thursday
November 19
2015
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Nathan Rauh-Bieri

Disrupting the Disruption

What appears to be truly disruptive is an education model in which students are forced to go beyond “business as usual” and build models where everyone can play a role in creating a more inclusive economy.

Categories
Education

Tags
conferences, education, poverty alleviation, technology
Tuesday
November 10
2015
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Nathan Rauh-Bieri

Tools for Economic Empowerment: Virtual learning in the Vital Voices GROW Fellowship

In this, the third in a series of articles about women entrepreneurs participating in the year-long Vital Voices GROW Fellowship, they speak in glowing terms of the virtual learning part of their training. Next up, they'll gather for in-person training.

Categories
Education, Entrepreneurship

Tags
entrepreneurship, fellowships, leadership, skill development, social enterprise, Women

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