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Business and human development in the base of the pyramid: Exploring challenges and opportunities with market heat maps

Author

Listed:
  • Acosta, Pablo
  • Kim, Namsuk
  • Melzer, Illana
  • Mendoza, Ronald U.
  • Thelen, Nina

Abstract

Roughly a little under half of the world's population is mired in poverty, most in the developing world--about 3 billion people constitute the global base of the economic pyramid. Building on earlier work by Banerjee and Duflo (2007), this paper uses survey data from three countries in order to provide a clear visualization of the spatial dimension of the economic lives of the poor and their access to markets. It develops a framework that could be used to map market inclusiveness, and then applies this to a number of markets that are critical to reducing poverty and increasing human welfare: water, credit and telecommunications. These "market heat maps" help to illustrate the extent of the challenges and in some cases reveal potential opportunities in growing more inclusive markets for the poor.

Suggested Citation

  • Acosta, Pablo & Kim, Namsuk & Melzer, Illana & Mendoza, Ronald U. & Thelen, Nina, 2011. "Business and human development in the base of the pyramid: Exploring challenges and opportunities with market heat maps," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 50-60, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:46:y:2011:i:1:p:50-60
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Agarwal, Nivedita & Brem, Alexander & Grottke, Michael, 2018. "Towards a higher socio-economic impact through shared understanding of product requirements in emerging markets: The case of the Indian healthcare innovations," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 91-98.
    3. Poul Houman Andersen & Lars Esbjerg, 2020. "Weaving a strategy for a base‐of‐the‐pyramid market: The case of Grundfos LIFELINK," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3687-3701, December.
    4. Schotter, Andreas P.J. & Buchel, Olha & Vashchilko (Lukoianova), Tatiana, 2018. "Interactive visualization for research contextualization in international business," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 356-372.
    5. Simon Joncourt & Heiko Gebauer & Javier Reynoso & Karla Cabrera & Ana Valdes & Katharina Greve, 2019. "Extending the Base-of-the-Pyramid Concept," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 241-261, October.
    6. Smith, Adam & Judge, William & Pezeshkan, Amir & Nair, Anil, 2016. "Institutionalizing entrepreneurial expertise in subsistence economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 910-922.
    7. Tassilo Schuster & Dirk Holtbrügge, 2014. "Benefits of Cross‐sector Partnerships in Markets at the Base of the Pyramid," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 188-203, March.
    8. Praceus, Sarah & Herstatt, Cornelius, 2012. "Consumer innovation in the poor versus rich world: Some differences and similarities," Working Papers 71, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute for Technology and Innovation Management.

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