Why we do what we do Research conducted over the past two decades has shown that economic growth can help lift people out of poverty. The world economy has become increasingly integrated, yielding new opportunities for developing countries to grow.
However, growth and globalization have benefited the poor unevenly. Economic growth helps reduce poverty, but it does not ensure rapid and sustained gains. Even when poverty declines, challenges remain. Growth can often be associated with widening inequalities.
Growth patterns and how pro-growth reforms are sequenced determine poverty and inequality outcomes. The key influences on those outcomes include:
- international and domestic markets
- formal and informal institutions
- how institutions interact with public policies
Equally important is how specific combinations of these influences interact in different socio-economic environments.
IDRC’s Globalization, Growth, and Poverty program seeks to enable stakeholders in developing countries to identify combinations of public policies suited to the specific needs of each country. The goal? To promote inclusive growth and reduce poverty. We want to build capacity to generate and use new and robust evidence, contributing to informed public dialogue and policymaking.
While our programming approach is shifting in 2011, it’s a natural progression toward ensuring long-term economic growth and sustainability in low-income countries and emerging economies.