posted Apr 28, 2011 2:34 AM by Tomaso Duso
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updated May 14, 2011 5:06 PM
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Today, I discovered a new book by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, which immediately catched my attention:
This is how the authors present it. "For more than fifteen years Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo have worked with the poor in dozens of countries spanning five continents, trying to understand the specific problems that come with poverty and to find proven solutions. Their book is radical in its rethinking of the economics of poverty, but also entirely practical in the suggestions it offers. Through a careful analysis of a very rich body of evidence, including the hundreds of randomized control trials that Banerjee and Duflo’s lab has pioneered, they show why the poor, despite having the same desires and abilities as anyone else, end up with entirely different lives.  Through their work, Banerjee and Duflo look at some of the most surprising facets of poverty: why the poor need to borrow in order to save, why they miss out on free life-saving immunizations but pay for drugs that they do not need, why they start many businesses but do not grow any of them, and many other puzzling facts about living with less than 99 cents per day. POOR ECONOMICS argues that so much of anti-poverty policy has failed over the years because of an inadequate understanding of poverty. The battle against poverty can be won, but it will take patience, careful thinking and a willingness to learn from evidence. Banerjee and Duflo are practical visionaries whose meticulous workoffers transformative potential for poor people anywhere, and is a vital guide to policy makers, philanthropists, activists and anyone else who cares about building a world without poverty." This book seems to be an excellent starting point for anybody interested in understanding problems related to poverty: from health, to education, from family structures to risk sharing, from entrepreneurship to the role of political institutions. It is very "empirical", as it carfully looks at different sources of data, but especially at the results of many randomizes experiments that these two excellent and careful economists run in the past decade. Yet, as the Economist noted " [...] It draws on a variety of evidence, not limiting itself to the results of randomised trials, as if they are the only route to truth. And the authors’ interest is not confined to “what works”, but also to how and why it works. Indeed, Ms Duflo and Mr Banerjee, perhaps more than some of their disciples, are able theorists as well as thoroughgoing empiricists." Moreover, the book comes together with an excellent webpage containing a lot of material, from data to slides, which makes it a perfect tool for teaching purposes....
posted Apr 7, 2011 5:35 AM by Tomaso Duso
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updated Apr 7, 2011 5:38 AM
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posted Mar 25, 2011 11:38 AM by Tomaso Duso
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updated May 17, 2012 11:27 AM
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| Do civil wars affect economic growth or is it the other way around? This is a typical identification problem. Markus Bruckner and Antonio Ciccone empirically analyze this link and provide evidence that economic recessions do indeed cause civil wars. Their identification strategy uses downturns in international commodity prices as an instrument for economic downturn in sub-Saharan countries. They show that "a 10% fall in income due to falling commodity prices raises the likelihood of civil war in Sub-Saharan Africa by around 12%." This is how good econometrics can contribute to a serious and informed policy debate.
Read more here or here (if you have access to the CEPR discussion paper)!
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posted Feb 11, 2011 5:08 AM by Tomaso Duso
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updated Mar 25, 2011 11:38 AM
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Lately, I got aware of a very nice initiative: http://www.kiva.org/
Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.
Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the
globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a
global community of people connected through lending.
Since its starting in 2004 Kiva reached 100 million in loans across the world. | |
posted Jan 13, 2011 2:59 AM by Tomaso Duso
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updated Feb 17, 2011 9:01 AM
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One of the nice things of driving my car to work and back home during the cold winter months is that I have some time to listen to the radio. Mostly, I listen to BBC world. They have two very interesting business radio programmes: World Business News
and Business Daily, where you can learn some interesting stuff about how business works. You can easily download the podcasts or listen to the programs on-line.
This is how they present themself.
World Business News: Analysis of the day's big global business developments and how they
affect consumers, investors and the environment. Every day, we ask the
major questions. Are big corporations too powerful? Are prices too high?
What gadgets are people buying? Hear company executives put on the
spot. And you can catch up with the drama on Wall Street, with a daily
report on the market's mood. Presenter Mike Johnson and the team steer
you through the complexities of the world of money.
;) Business Daily: Examining
the big issues facing the global economy, Business Daily demystifies
the world of money. From giant industries like aviation and automotive
to the smallest scale start-up, Business Daily asks the big questions
about free trade, technology and investment. There is also analysis of
management and marketing trends, and what business jargon really means -
together with reports on business news from around the world via the
BBC's global network of reporters.
Have fun listening!
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posted Dec 4, 2010 2:20 PM by Tomaso Duso
A nice introduction to basic behavioral economics...
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