Development Economics

In many developing economies, especially extreme forms of inequality have emerged, and there is accordingly much interest in monitoring such inequality and understanding how and why it came to be so extreme. Although one typically associates development economics with studies of less developed countries, the research in this field is also useful in understanding dire poverty and inequality in the United States as well.

Issues of description

How much poverty is there in developing economies? Is poverty in developing economies increasing or diminishing? How is poverty best measured in developing economies? Are measures based on income alone adequate to the task?

Effects of development

How does economic development affect poverty rates? Are less developed economies becoming more unequal with globalization? What can we learn from studies of developing countries in understanding dire poverty in the United States? Does poverty within developing economies take on a dramatically different cast than in developed ones?

Policy

How have the policies of the World Bank and the World Trade Organization affected poverty and inequality in developing economies? Are microlending and other currently fashionable interventions indeed successful in reducing poverty?