Its from the doyennes of the new focus on measurement in general and randomized control trials in particular, abhijit banerjee and esther duflo from the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab j. History, measurement and policy, oxford university press. Poor economics represents the best that economics has to offer. A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty authors abhijit banerjee and esther duflo present their thesis about health care for the poor and low hanging fruit. Duflo won the john bates clark medal, which goes to the top economist under 40, in 2010. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The book captures an approach to development that has swept the field of development economics and this approach has been largely influential within governments, international agencies and nongovernment organisations. A nobelwinning prescription for symptoms frontline.
First, this is a book about the economic life of the poor. Poor economics a rich new book from abhijit banerjee and. Banerjee and esther duflo, both professors of economics at mit and each others spouse. The economics nobel winners triumph is at the expense. Over on marginal revolution, tyler cowen says the book is selfrecommending. Poor economics doesnt simply offer a unilateral view of how to fight global poverty.
Banerjee and esther duflo, two awardwinning mit professors, answer these questions based on years of field research from around the world. Even as simple a concept as a marginal return is carefully explained, for example, and the most complex idea is the possibility of a poverty trap, where. Banerjee appeared on national public radio this week, and a portion of a speech he gave to the asian development bank is available on youtube. Interesting report from the trenches of microdevelopment, with a good empirical bent. A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty by esther duflo and abhijit banerjee. Beyond the strong focus on randomised control trials, the book distinguishes itself by wading into issues on which the development community has often ignored or made uninformed guesses.
See general information about how to correct material in repec for technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title. Critical theory group is a platform to engage in discussions and share knowledge. The book argues that while people are not ordinarily required to make large sacrifices in assisting others in severe need, they are required to incur moderate costs to do so. Called marvelous, rewarding by the wall street journal, the book offers a radical rethinking of the economics of poverty and an intimate view of life on 99 cents a day. Poor economics is pitched at a popular science level and has hardly anything in the way of theory and it seems as much motivated by ideas from public health as by development economics. Banerjee is coauthor of the book poor economics, which addresses the pitfalls of current aid programs and advocates for a radical new approach to thinking about poverty. Using economics to help the worlds poor the new york times.
This, in sum to quote the subtitle of the book, is the authors radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty. Small adjustments to aid programs can yield big results. The book poor economics by abhijit bannerjee and esther duflo have been much lauded in recent times internationally, and has won several. Poor economics by abhijit banerjee, 9780718193669, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. It won the 2011 financial times and goldman sachs business book of the year award. Chapter 5 of poor economics, pak sudarnos big family focuses on population control in the developing world and the family dynamics relating to the population size. Falling enrollments, is a plausible and endogenous response for faculty members and departments. Each chapter in this book describes a search to discover what these. Low hanging fruit is used to describe cheap medicines, preventive medicines, and lowcost actions that drastically benefit peoples health. Sexintergenerational sex and concurrent partnersviral load high when they. What the book talks about economics of poverty understanding the economic lives of the poor lives and choices of the poor regarding, hunger health education family size functioning of institutions like, insurance microfinance savings entrepreneurship politics and policies 10. It asks the question of whether the poor really want such large families and the reasoning behind such high fertility rates within these societies 128.
Banerjee and duflo have pioneered the use of randomized control trials in development economics. Poor economics is a book about the very rich economics that emerges from understanding the economic lives of the poor. Pak sudarnos big family erika halburian rich countries india the fact that today countries with higher fertility rates are poorer doesnt tell use that they are poorer because of high fertility. To vote on books not in the list or books you couldnt find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search. Poor economics is more than just a compendium of the randomistas greatest hits. Levitt, author of freakonomics a marvelously insightful book by two outstanding researchers on the real nature of poverty. Abhijit banerjee and esther duflo have laid bare the gaps in our knowledge of poverty, but we must go much further to fill those gaps. A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty by abhijit banerjee and esther duflo discusses the existence of a nutritionbased poverty trap. The titles double meaning perfectly captures michaels problem. The authors seriously engage two different perspective throughout the book one that argues that aid to the global poor often makes matters worse, and the other that argues that the poor cannot rise without heavy external often government help. Amartya sen, winner of the nobel prize for economics. All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors.
While the book provides some interesting insights, i question how far its approach will get us in fighting global poverty. A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty. Like all good books, it has its own website, full of background papers etc. A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty, is making waves in development circles. A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty, the latest big book on development. Poor economics is written by serious economists who have no time for such nonsense, and this is reflected in the high quality of the book. Duflo and banerjee take the guesswork out of policies that help the poor there is much to praise in esther duflo and abhijit banerjees book that suggests new ways to fight global poverty. Foreword esther was six when she read in a comic book on mother teresa that the city then called calcutta was so crowded that each person had only 10 square feet to live in. To look at the likelihood of such a poverty trap two graphical models of poverty are considered.
The book poor economics is very helpful, because it is both empirically rigorous and insightful about the realities that the data doesnt always capture. Available on kindle ebook and can be read on any device with the free kindle. When requesting a correction, please mention this items handle. Gordon, the rise and fall of american growth, 2016. For one thing, it contains some wellobserved reporting.
The author of poor economics on why aid that assumes the poor will do the right thing is misguided and why political corruption does not necessarily mean economic stagnation. The book captures an approach to development that has swept the field of development economics and this. The two mit economists are best known for their randomised. Their lifes work is traveling to poor countries, looking closely at what works and what doesnt work. The economists free exchange, april 21, 2011to cut to the chase. The book reports on the effectiveness of solutions to global poverty using an evidencebased randomized control trial approach. Critical theory discussion group, colombo, sri lanka. Work based on these principles, supervised by the poverty action lab at mit, is being carried out in dozens of countries. Duflo and banerjee take the guesswork out of policies that. Abhijit banerjee and esther duflos book, poor economics. Reddy few volumes in contemporary economics have been more lauded, and have summarised a zeitgeist, as much as abhijit banerjee and esther duflos poor economics.
It is a book about the kinds of theories that help us make sense of both what the poor are able to achieve and where, and for what reason, they need a push. It does not follow from this that the affluent are meeting responsibilities to the poor. Banerjee and esther duflo, both professors of economics at mit. A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty helped introduce the idea of rcts to the wider public. Poor economics is by two mit economists, abhijit vinayak banerjee and esther duflo. The book reports on the effectiveness of solutions to global poverty using an. Povertypoor systems of health care, untreated stis, reuse of needles, migrant workers. Secondly, the economy described functions quite poorly. One is an sshaped curve showing that what you have today directly influence what you will have tomorrow. The book poor economics by abhijit bannerjee and esther duflo have been much lauded in recent times internationally, and has won several prestigious awards.
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