Today, providing the poor with the resources they need is, in large, a political design problem. It requires understanding the characteristics of institutional poverty within countries, communities and families: weak institutions that limit access of the poor to resources intended for them and one-sided political and social structures that concentrate economic and political power in the hands of a few. This talk will discuss why an evidence-based research agenda focused on institutional design ¨C one that asks who controls which levers of power, within and outside the state, and how to align incentives of the powerful with those of the poor and marginalized ¨C is a necessary complement to research on the design and delivery of anti-poverty programs.
Stay tuned for more high-profile speakers in the Poverty & Equity Seminar series:
Feb. 10: Thomas Piketty