Centre

Centre for Accountability and Global Development (CAGD)

Part of Essex Business School

We are the Centre for Accountability and Global Development

We advance interdisciplinary research in the field of accountability across all sectors, in both developed and emerging economies.

The Centre for Accountability and Global Development (CAGD) is a vibrant research hub of Essex Business School that promotes debate and seeks solutions to various issues of global interest. CAGD adopts an interdisciplinary approach to research focusing on accountability aspects across various societal spheres (i.e. social, business and public governance), in both emerging and advanced economies contexts.

We encourage research collaborations and doctoral applications in the areas of Accountability and Global Development. Our research has been published in several leading journals including: World Development; Journal of Development Studies; Journal of International Development; Development and Change; Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal; Journal of Business Ethics; Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies; Critical Perspectives on Accounting; and Accounting Forum.


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We host the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies

Several of our members are on the editorial boards of Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. Professor Shahzad Uddin is the editor, and Professor Teerooven Soobarooyen is the associate editor of the Journal. Professor Pawan Adhikari, Professor Arun Thankom, Dr Silvia Gaia, and Dr Junaid Ashraf are on the editorial board.

Visit the Journal of Accounting for Emerging Economies

Our mission, vision and values

We aim to:

  • further the understanding of governance and accountability ideas shaping the world
  • produce public policy oriented research and provide practical solutions
  • encourage collaboration with a wide range of organisations and individuals
  • critique contemporary practices and power to advance democracy, equity and social justice
  • use a plurality of theoretical perspectives to call power to account
  • provide intellectual freedom to challenge established orthodoxies
  • engage in lifelong learning

Media

Our academic staff frequently feature within the wider press and media. Below are some examples of their latest appearances:

Our events

Our members host and are invited to speak at a number of high profile research events. From workshops to conferences, here are some examples of our most notable appearances: 

  • Professor Thankom Arun chaired a session on digital economy in the recently held BRICS Virtual Economic Conclave 2021, hosted by Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on November 26-27, 2021. 
  • Joint research seminar with the Essex Accounting Centre and the CAGD with guest speaker Professor Kathryn Hochstetler from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
  • Professor Aseem Prakesh discusses the three faces of climate justice 
  • Participatory Budgeting and Human Rights-based Approach to Development: Insights from Makueni County in Kenya: His Excellency Professor Kivutha Kibwana, Governor of Makueni County in Kenya, presented this seminar on 4 November 2020, and which was also attended by colleagues from across the University of Essex.
  • Governance: The Weakest Link: A seminar presented by guest speaker Mr. K. Jayakumar, Director of the Institute of Management in Government, Kerala, India (also founding Vice-Chancellor of the Malayalam University and former Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala, India), on 30 October 2019.
  • Climate Change and Women Empowerment in Bangladesh: Half-day workshop with representatives of Gram Unnayan Karma (GUK) Microfinance Bank of Bangladesh, who discussed GUK’s agenda in job creation, mitigating poverty and supporting poor and ultra-poor households in the Northwest region of Bangladesh, on 9 October 2019.
  • From International to Global Development: New Geographies of 21st Century Development: An inaugural lecture presided by David Hulme OBE, Professor of Development Studies at The University of Manchester and Executive Director of the Global Development Institute and CEO of the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre, on 14 May 2019.
  • New Means of Accountability in the Public and Third Sector of Emerging Economies: A half-day workshop with the Essex Accounting Centre staff and an external speaker (Dr Ram Mohan, Institute of Management in Government, Kerala, India) on 1 May 2019.
  • Interrogating the causal theories underpinning social investment: action research using the Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP) with Professor James Copestake, University of Bath.

Our policy and impact

Our members have received funding from various funding bodies, such as The British Council, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) and The World Bank Group. 

For example, Professor Arun is leading a project on bilateral trade between India and the UK on Fintech and fintech enabled services, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). It is one of four projects supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) under their joint call for collaborative research on the future of UK-India trade and cross-border investment in a changing global environment, as stated in the India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD). The three-year project brings together leading research institutions, government organisations and fintech firms from both countries to assess the role of fintech in expanding bilateral trade between the UK and India. 

The key partners of the project are: Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), in New Delhi, Professor Victor Murinde, Director, Centre for Global Finance, SOAS, Professor Sheri Markose, from Essex’s Department of Economics, Professor K J Joseph, Director of the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT), Dr Philip Kostov, from the School of Business at the University of Central Lancashire, Dr Priyadarshi Dash, of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Dr Reji Joseph, of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development in New Delhi

We have completed a project on mainstreaming financial inclusion in India in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore), India. Financial inclusion is a subject of growing interest with national governments and international institutions. Learn more about the project at the Financial Inclusion project website.  We are also conducting a project by World Bank/PEFA project on “Integrating Climate Change and livelihood within Public Investment Policies: A Cross Country Assessment in South Asia”, by Bedanand Upadhaya, Chaminda Wijethilake, Kelum Jayasinghe, Pawan Adhikari, and Thankom Arun.

Our members also work closely with various professional bodies and learned societies, including the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes; Global Studies Association; Development Studies Association; and The African Accounting and Finance Association.

Our research

Research case studies

Research projects

Research papers

Research studies

ERASMUS and capacity building in higher education

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Read our research

Read our latest research papers in the research repository. Explore our publications and see the wide variety of fields we work in, from tax avoidance and austerity, to global politics and emerging economies.

Visit our research repository
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Professor Shahzad Uddin receives a prestigious award from the Labor and Employment Relations Association

Read more about the award and Professor Uddin's paper exposing workplace bullying in Bangladesh.

Read the Essex news story
Contact us
Centre for Global Accountability and Global Development University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ
Essex Business School University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ
Telephone: 01206 873333