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.
October 15, 2024 - 4:00 PM
Global Multidimensional Poverty for Children with Disabilities: A 40 countries study
March 24, 2023 - 9:30 AM
The Future of Global Poverty Alleviation Through Social Business
March 1, 2023 - 10:00 AM
Methodological Approaches on How to Measure Risk of Poverty with Income and Wealth
November 21, 2022 - 12:00 PM
Inclusive Absolute Well-Being Changes. An Application with Multidimensional Cross-Country Analysis
November 14, 2022 - 12:00 AM
Human Development Report 2022 – Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives. Shaping Our Future in a Transforming World
March 2, 2022 - 8:30 AM
Understanding Poverty Dynamics and the Impact of the Pandemic
February 26, 2022 - 11:00 AM
Measuring Vulnerability to Multidimensional Poverty with Bayesian Network Classifiers
February 21, 2022 - 11:00 AM
Profiling Gendered Multidimensional Poverty and Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa
February 14, 2022 - 11:00 AM
Extending Multidimensional Poverty Identification: From Additive Weights to Minimal Bundles
November 29, 2021 - 11:00 AM
Distributional Impacts of Cash Transfers on the Multidimensional Poverty of Refugees: The ESSN program in Turkey
May 10, 2021 - 10:00 AM
A Multi-Country Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty in Contexts of Forced Displacement