Professor Christopher Blattman Evaluates Effect of Direct Investments on African Poverty

Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies and Harris Public Policy Professor Christopher Blattman writes an open letter in Vox to Bill Gates in response to Gates' annual letter on global health and development. "I studied a program in Uganda that gave some of the poorest women in the world $150 one-time grants plus some business training and supervision. After two years, households that were part of the program the program earned $202 more per year than the control group. The program cost $843 per household, most of that paying staff to give the training and supervision. That’s a better return than chickens provide, according to the research."

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