Some GW Perspectives on Research, Teaching, and Service Activities toward Ending Global Poverty Forum Presentation at “USAID and GW Discuss Ending Extreme Poverty” Stephen C. Smith January 27, 2015

A Perspective on Addressing Global Poverty at GW Teaching – on poverty within its development context, at all levels Service – many faculty and students are personally engaged Research – on foundations of poverty studies: – Theory, with a focus on careful, rigorous poverty measurement – Often building on foundations of Amartya Sen’s capability to function approach – Also part of what leads many at GW to take a multidimensional poverty approach Research – on systematic measurement of poverty – Now-standard measures created by Sabina Alkire and James Foster – Identifying and addressing other limitations in poverty measurement Research – on ultra-poverty: Measurement, policy, and programs for those significantly more deprived than standard extreme poverty cutoffs Research on poverty program design and impact – focus on innovative programs aimed at poorest, and new methods and tools to fill gaps Research methods to follow the (big) questions asked

Perspective that Extreme Poverty is Inherently Multidimensional Amartya Sen’s capability to function approach – a basic framework for poverty research on which many at GW often build Multidimensional foundations of freedom of choice e.g. education The capabilities perspective informs interest in working across disciplines Also leads many at GW to take a multidimensional poverty approach: Poverty is more than lack of income; multidimensional analysis is not just a “proxy” for imperfectly measured income or consumption Multidimensional poverty concepts and systematic measurement Now-standard measures created by Sabina Alkire and James Foster Identifying, addressing limitations in poverty measurement and analysis

Foundations of Poverty Measurement Poverty Theory – Focus on getting the measurement right – Most widely used income poverty measures (FGT): James Foster (with Greer and Thorbecke) – Current research at GW: Person Equivalent Headcount Measures of Poverty (Tony Castleman, James Foster, and Stephen C. Smith) Multidimensional (MD) measurement – Poverty is not just income – and MD analysis is not just a proxy for income – Now-standard measures created by Sabina Alkire and James Foster – Comparative global measures; and country-specific measures for local purposes Identifying and addressing other limitations in poverty measurement – Creating new measures where lacking, improving measures where needed – Expanding what gets measured - with careful focus on how it gets measured – Developing measures that have important conceptual properties – Measures that can be used in ways most beneficial for policymakers – Examples: health systems; educational quality – Measurement of ultra-poverty

Ultra-poverty Ultra-poverty associated with four features – 1. Very low income (e.g. half the extreme poverty line) 2. Multidimensional (beyond some point, dimensions such as health and education act as complements, not serving as substitutes); Again: cash alone may not solve ultra-poverty 3. Geographically concentrated 4. Chronic – which may be connected to (possibly multidimensional) poverty traps At GW, a considerable focus on measurement, policy, and programs for those significantly more deprived than standard extreme poverty cutoffs Example: New measures of ultra-poverty Example: Multidimensional targeting and evaluation

Orientation of Research and Service A significant breadth of research on, or work with, programs with these features: – Major development transformation questions (e.g. key role of infrastructure and urbanization in Africa (Remi Jedwab) – Addresses big questions, e.g. “cash vs conditions” (Sarah Baird) – Directed toward ultra-poor, e.g. smallholder women farmers in such countries as Uganda and Senegal (Fishman and Smith – USAID funded research via BASIS program) – Focus on key constraints on which improvement otherwise slow at best, e.g. environmental deterioration (Smith) – Address possibility of poverty traps (Kwak and Smith) – Multidimensional programs in response to multidimensional problems of poverty (Robano and Smith) Government policy BRAC (and other NGO) programs

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