Poor Economics (Paperback)

Abhijit Banerjee

ISBN 10: 8184002807 / ISBN 13: 9788184002805

Published by Random House, India, Noida, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. Billions of government dollars, and thousands of charitable organizations and NGOs, are dedicated to helping the worlds poor. But much of their work is based on assumptions that are untested generalizations at best, harmful misperceptions at worst.Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo have pioneered the use of randomized control trials in development economics. Work based on these principles, supervised by the Poverty Action Lab, is being carried out in dozens of countries. Drawing on this and their 15 years of research from Chile to India, Kenya to Indonesia, they have identified wholly new aspects of the behavior of poor people, their needs, and the way that aid or financial investment can affect their lives. Their work defies certain presumptions: that microfinance is a cure-all, that schooling equals learning, that poverty at the level of 99 cents a day is just a more extreme version of the experience any of us have when our income falls uncomfortably low.This important book illuminates how the poor live, and offers all of us an opportunity to think of a world beyond poverty. Billions of dollars and numerous organizations aim to help the poor, but much of their work is based on untested assumptions. Banerjee and Duflo use randomized control trials to study poverty, challenging common beliefs about aid and investment. Their research sheds light on the lives of the poor and offers new perspectives on poverty alleviation. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9788184002805

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Poor Economics (Paperback)
• Publisher: Random House, India, Noida
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8184002807
• ISBN 13: 9788184002805
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Imagine you have a few billion dollars and want to spend it on the poor. How do you go about it? Billions of government dollars and thousands of charitable organizations and NGOs, are dedicated to helping the world's poor. But much of their work is based on assumptions about the poor and the world that are untested generalizations at best, harmful misperceptions at worst. Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo have pioneered the use of randomized control trials (RCTs) in development economics through their award-winning Poverty Action Lab. They argue that by using RCTs and more generally, by paying careful attention to the evidence, it is possible to make accurate and often startling assessments on what really impacts the poor and what doesn't. Revelatory and impassioned, Poor Economics is a pathbreaking book that will help you to understand the real causes of poverty and how to end it.

About the Author

Abhijit Banerjee is the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT and the author of Poor Economics. He has been named as one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers and has served on the U.N. Secretary-General's panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Esther Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT and the author of Poor Economics. Duflo is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, and has received numerous academic honors and prizes including the Infosys Prize, the Dan David Prize, a John Bates Clark Medal, and a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship.