Overview

A leading economist and researcher report from the front lines of a revolution in solving the world's most persistent problem. When it comes to global poverty, people are passionate and polarized. At one extreme: We just need to invest more resources. At the other: We've thrown billions down a sinkhole over the last fifty years and accomplished almost nothing. Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel present an entirely new approach that blazes an optimistic and realistic trail between these two extremes. In this pioneering book Karlan and Appel combine behavioral economics with worldwide field research. They take readers with them into villages across Africa, India, South America, and the Philippines, where economic theory collides with real life. They show how small changes in banking, insurance, health care, and other development initiatives that take into account human irrationality can drastically improve the well-being of poor people everywhere. We in the developed world have found ways to make our own lives profoundly better. We use new tools to spend smarter, save more, eat better, and lead lives more like the ones we imagine. These tools can do the same for the impoverished. Karlan and Appel's research, and those of some close colleagues, show exactly how. In America alone, individual donors contribute over two hundred billion to charity annually, three times as much as corporations, foundations, and bequests combined. This book provides a new way to understand what really works to reduce poverty; in so doing, it reveals how to better invest those billions and begin transforming the well-being of the world.

Full Product Details

9780525951896

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Reviews

The first half of the twenty-first century will be remembered by historians as the time when the world eliminated much of its poverty. A few geniuses like Dean Karlan will be seen as responsible. Here is a triumph of careful analysis and creative invention over deep problems that have been seen as endemic and hopeless. <br> -Robert Shiller, Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Yale University, and author of Animal Spirits, The Suprime Solution and Irrational Exuberance <br> A page-turner that guides donors to strategies that improve the lives of the world's poorest people. Karlan and Appel lucidly describe the research supporting their findings while demonstrating how psychological nudges combine with economic incentives to make the strategies succeed. <br> -Paul Brest, President, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation <br> Karlan is one of the most creative and prolific young economists in the world. His research lies at the intersection of two of the hottest ar

A sprightly read that offers many eye-opening, real-world examples of how international development aid can actually work.... The book seethes with the scientific rigor and fact-based optimism that ought to exemplify American foreign aid. <br> - Miller-McCure <br> What does it take to fight global poverty? More money? Better intentions? Actually, Yale economist Karlan and field researcher Appel instead advocate making small but indelible changes in banking practices, health care, and more to improve the lives of the poor. And they're not armchair pedants; they traveled the world to get the ideas furnished in this book. Good work for informed readers. <br> - Library Journal <br> Karlan and Appel write that their goal is 'to speak directly to readers, to lead them into some corners of the world they might not otherwise encounter, and bring them face-to-face with the people who populate those places.' They have succeeded admirably, as both advocates and analysts. <br> - Ki

Author Information

Dean Karlan is Professor of Economics at Yale University and president of IPA. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. Jacob Appel is a field researcher for IPA. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey. This is their first book.

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