Abstract
After a discussion on the evolution of poverty and its multidimensional nature, as well as some global trends affecting the livelihoods of people in poverty, this chapter explores how design and innovation can contribute to the eradication of poverty and to improve the livelihoods and opportunities for those facing this condition. It considers not just the design of goods, services, and infrastructure but also of policies and programs. The chapter emphasizes the importance of understanding the needs and preferences of the poor and marginalized, as well as the relevance of considering incentives and behavior and how this can affect adoption of design seeking to improve livelihoods. It discusses why design should harness advances in science and technology to overcome obstacles hindering development, and how it can reduce inequalities. The analysis takes a multidisciplinary perspective, drawing particularly from economics and public policy, and considers the role of governments, civil society, and businesses.
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Notes
- 1.
People in poverty have an income below the poverty line (línea de bienestar económico) and face deprivation in at least one of the dimensions. They would be in extreme poverty if their income falls under the extreme poverty line and they face deprivation in three or more dimensions. For a detailed explanation on the methodology used in Mexico see Coneval (2019).
- 2.
A demographic bonus occurs when those of productive age represent a larger portion of the population than those who are dependents (the very young and the elderly).
- 3.
This is a common problem for the financial services industry seeking to evaluate credit risks of potential customers, as many poor people work in the informal sector and do not have a fixed income, have never bought anything using formal credit channels and do not have assets or use credit cards.
- 4.
An example is Mera Gao Power in Uttar Pradesh, India, that creates a microgrid using solar panels in roofs of houses that also provide power to neighboring homes in a cost-effective way, cited in OECD (2013, Box 3.2).
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
On this see https://reachalliance.org/ Accessed June 2021, with case studies from around the world.
- 8.
See for instance the work of McCord and Sachs (2013).
- 9.
Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kramer have used and helped develop randomized control trials to answer these and other questions, helping build into economics research and methodologies from the health sciences. This helped analyze the impact on incentives and decisions, which has also led to a better understanding of poverty.
- 10.
The work of Banerjee and Duflo (2007) on the economic lives of the poor presents valuable insights and evidence on decisions taken by people on poverty in several countries regarding investments, education, nutrition, work, and others and how behaviors are shaped by incentives and conditions faced
- 11.
- 12.
See Thomas (2006) for a discussion on this issue.
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Merino, G. (2022). Poverty and Design, an Economics and Policy Perspective. In: Giorgi, E., Cattaneo, T., Flores Herrera, A.M., Aceves Tarango, V.d.S. (eds) Design for Vulnerable Communities. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96866-3_3
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