Publications

April 2019
Case

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement (Abridged)

By: Julie Battilana, Lakshmi Ramarajan and Michael Norris

In 2018, New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof and his wife, former Times writer Sheryl WuDunn (HBS ’86) who worked in finance, were planning for their next book. The couple’s earlier books had given rise to social movements around gender equity and poverty issues.... View Details

Keywords: Social Movement; Gender Equality; Writing; Social Issues; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Poverty; Books; Change; Leadership

01 Aug 2019
Video

Improving lives one data set at a time

15 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 15

Poverty and Crime: Evidence from Rainfall and Trade Shocks in India By: Iyer, Lakshmi, and Petia Topalova Abstract—Does poverty lead to crime? We shed light on this question using two independent and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Sep 2021
Blog Post

Socioeconomic Inclusion at HBS: Joshua Mbanusi (MBA 2021)

poverty instilled in Mbanusi both an understanding of the difficulty of doing so and a desire to help others do the same. While getting his undergraduate degree in policy analysis, Mbanusi spent a summer working for the Department of... View Details

18 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 18, 2007

Working PapersOptimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt Authors:Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk Abstract Most models currently used to determine optimal foreign reserve holdings take the level of international debt as given. However, given the sovereign's... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Sep 2014
News

If Your Kids Get Free Health Care, You’re More Likely to Start a Company

02 Dec 2021
News

When You Can’t Change the World, Change Your Feelings

31 Aug 2004
News

More companies tap location, location, location of inner cities

Vincent Pons

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT VINCENT PONS, CONSULT HIS WEBSITE.

Vincent Pons is... View Details

16 Sep 2015
News

Harvard prof shares ways to lift inner-city economies

13 May 2011
News

Rebuilding America's inner cities

12 Feb 2015
Video

Man of the Year-Up: Creating Opportunity for Young Adults

November 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

BRAC in 2020

By: Tarun Khanna and Shreya Ramachandran

In 2020, the largest non-governmental organization in the world, BRAC, headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has some big problems to tackle. Its founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, has left behind a challenge: take the 1981-founded organization from Bangladesh to every... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Education; Health; Social Issues; Poverty; Programs; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Education Industry; Health Industry; Bangladesh; South Asia

September 2003 (Revised May 2004)
Case

New Partnership for Africa's Development, The

By: Laura Alfaro, Debora L. Spar and Cate Reavis

In a world context of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund and their interaction with developing countries, this case looks at an African development initiative to address its own problems: The New Economic... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; International Finance; Investment; Poverty; Africa

April 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Capitalism, Slavery, and Reparations

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Cary Williams

The birth of “Modern Economic Growth” constituted a watershed in human history, allowing societies to escape the Malthusian impasse and permanently raise living standards. While the new growth regime had lifted billions of people out of extreme poverty over the last... View Details

Keywords: Reparations; Living Standards; Poverty; Social Issues; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; Globalized Economies and Regions; Human Needs

06 Dec 2012
News

The Microwork Solution

March 2008
Case

Ujjivan: A Microfinance Institution at a Crossroads (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Pamela Freed

Samit Ghosh, the CEO and founder of Ujjivan, a major microfinance provider in Bangalore, wants to grow his business rapidly and become financially sustainable, but he's struggling with staff fraud, high costs, and how to stay true to Ujjivan's mission of poverty... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Microfinance; Ethics; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Bangalore

2014
Working Paper

Saving More to Borrow Less: Experimental Evidence from Access to Formal Savings Accounts in Chile

By: Felipe Kast and Dina Pomeranz

Poverty is often characterized not only by low and unstable income, but also by heavy debt burdens. We find that reducing barriers to saving through access to free savings accounts decreases participants' short-term debt by about 20%. In addition, participants who... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Poverty; Borrowing and Debt; Chile

SSRN

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May 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

The Robin Hood Foundation

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and Cathy Ross

Created by hedge fund and financial managers, the Robin Hood Foundation fights poverty through grants to nonprofit organizations. As the global financial crisis continues to impact the poor disproportionately, the Foundation needs to ensure that its funds are being... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Poverty; Organizational Design; Performance Effectiveness; Financial Crisis; Programs; Measurement and Metrics