Economics of Poverty and Inequality
Poverty and inequality remain central challenges in global development. IIEP’s Economics of Poverty and Inequality initiative focuses on research, policy dialogue, and public programming related to poverty measurement, human development, inequality, and the design and evaluation of poverty-reduction programs.
Launched in 2009 with the support of a generous anonymous donor, this area of work began as the Ultra-poverty Initiative and has since supported more than 50 IIEP events on poverty and human development. The initiative is coordinated by James E. Foster and Stephen C. Smith, with participation from GW faculty engaged in research and policy analysis on poverty, inequality, and development.
Areas of Focus. IIEP programming and research in this area have explored multidimensional poverty measurement, poverty program design and evaluation, human development, educational quality, women’s well-being, health, nutrition, corruption, poverty traps, and poverty in low- and middle-income countries.
Multidimensional Poverty. One of the initiative’s overarching themes is multidimensional measurement and analysis of poverty and poverty programs. Former IIEP Director James Foster’s influential work on multidimensional measurement provided the underpinnings of the United Nations Development Programme Multidimensional Poverty Index. Dr. Foster applies this work to measurement in several fields including educational quality, women’s well-being, health, nutrition, and corruption. In addition, IIEP faculty also work on the design and impact of multidimensional poverty programs, multidimensional screening of poverty program eligibility, and multidimensional poverty trap analysis.
Seminars and Conferences. IIEP co-hosts an ongoing series on Viewing Multidimensional Poverty From Many Angles with the University of Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the UNDP Human Development Report Office (HDRO).
This initiative is also connected to IIEP’s broader programming on urbanization and development, including past Urbanization and Development Conferences that brought together academics, policymakers, government officials, and development practitioners to discuss people, markets, cities, and development.
June 30, 2026 - 7:00 AM
Exploring a Multidimensional Wellbeing Index in Japan
June 16, 2026 - 11:00 AM
Measuring Multidimensional Wellbeing using the Gallup World Poll
June 9, 2026 - 11:00 AM
A Multidimensional Well-being Indicator for Malawi
June 2, 2026 - 11:00 AM
Proposing a Gross Well-Being Index: Evidence from Chad, Comoros and Iraq
May 26, 2026 - 11:00 AM
Beyond Poverty: Mapping Multidimensional Wellbeing in Indonesia
May 19, 2026 - 11:00 AM
Multidimensional Well-Being in the United States - Measurement and Policy
May 12, 2026 - 11:00 AM
Exploring a ‘Welly’ Index for Argentina
April 28, 2026 - 11:00 AM
Beyond GDP: What multidimensional measures of poverty and well-being add
July 9, 2025 - 5:00 PM
ECINEQ 2025 Keynote with Daron Acemoglu
December 3, 2024 - 4:00 PM
Unidimensional underpinnings of MPI
November 26, 2024 - 4:00 PM
Global MPI 2024: Poverty amid conflict