Base of the Pyramid Markets in Latin America : Innovation and Challenges to Sustainability

This book focuses on the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) in Latin America and examines the role of the markets in serving low-income populations as consumers, distributors, and entrepreneurs. Deep inequalities, violence, and urbanisation characterise the region. Despite the reduction of poverty observed during the first two decades of the 21st century, Latin America is the most unequal region in the world. Outside active war zones, the region has the highest homicide rate in the world and violence and inequality are both deeply intertwined. Markets have a crucial role to play in closing this gap and offering job and income opportunities, especially to unemployed youth, paving the way for safer, more peaceful, and sustainable development.

The book also offers a theoretical reflection on the role that community enterprises who manage common-pool resources can play in serving markets and creating income opportunities for the rural poor.

The book is recommended for managers, policy makers, students, and scholars interested in Base of the Pyramid markets and their potential to lift people out of poverty and to promote a more equal society.

Ximena Rueda Fajardo is Associate Professor at the School of Management at the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

Marlen Gabriele Arnold is a Professor in the field of sustainability. Currently, she holds the Chair for Corporate Environmental Management and Sustainability at the Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany.

Judy N. Muthuri is Associate Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS), UK and chairs the Social and Environmental Responsibility Group leading the School’s UN Principles for Responsible Management Education network.

Stefan Gold is Professor and Chair of Sustainability Management at the University of Kassel, Germany.