Does Management Matter?

Across low-income populations in the developing world, individuals exhibit vastly different attitudes, mindsets, and behaviors in response to poverty ranging from defeatism and apathy to creativity and resourcefulness. Through a behavioral study conducted in diverse contexts across rural India, we aim to understand and identify triggers and seeding functions leading to acts of innovation, activities that generate opportunities and pathways to upward mobility and self-efficacy. To inform the design and deployment of this study, we propose an initial phase (Phase I), involving conducting preliminary fieldwork in India this December 2012. This fieldwork will involve gaining initial insight into these behavior triggers through structured observations, melding viewpoints on the outcomes of the study with influential leaders in the development space, and establishing influential partnerships, including government officials and implementing partners.