Poverty and Equity
IIASA researchers are examining many of the key dimensions of poverty– poor economic development, low education levels, lack of social safety nets, inadequate access to energy, food and water, the devastating impacts of natural disasters, the low adaptive capacity of poor populations to climate change, and the lack of inclusive and legitimate governance. IIASA is exploring new and fresh approaches in the application of systems analysis to examine the synergies and trade-offs between multiple dimensions of human deprivation.
Researchers are also assessing the relationship between the poor and the environment, including impacts on forests, soil, air and water quality, food production and land-use.
Income inequality is prevalent in both developed and developing economies. IIASA research focuses on examining patterns of income distribution, their causes, and incorporates them into systems models.
Research on equity extends beyond income inequality to understanding other distributional concerns, such as the socio-economic problems related to rapidly aging populations in developed countries, the extent of people’s vulnerabilities to natural disasters in comparison to their exposure to them, and the effects of inequitable education opportunities on human capital development and on development in general.
More information about current research in IIASA's Poverty and Equity global problem area can be accessed by clicking the links below and on the right:
Risk, Policy, and Vulnerability
The Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) contributes to this area with its work on catastrophic risk management in highly exposed and vulnerable countries, with a focus on the dynamics of disaster induced poverty traps. Researchers are investigating risk financing mechanisms, including sovereign and micro-insurance, as a way of providing needed safety nets. RPV also examines the risks and social concerns associated with energy, infrastructure expansion in low income countries and communities, in particular when the energy is destined for consumption in higher income regions.
Mitigation of Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gases
The Mitigation of Air Pollutants and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) program explores how outdoor and indoor pollution affects different income classes in developing countries and identifies priority measures that reduce poverty as well as local pollution and climate change. More
Evolution and Ecology
The Evolution and Ecology (EEP) Program's work on the Equitable governance of common goods investigates how top-down regulations for managing common goods or open-access resources can be improved by integrative assessments of stakeholder conflicts and by scaling up successful characteristics of self-organized and resilient bottom-up governance. More
World Population Program
Human population trends are a key factor in sustainable development. We study and project how the changing composition of population matters for social, economic and the environmental change and how human health and well-being are being affected. More
Ecosystems Services & Management
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program aims to improve our understanding of ecosystems in today’s changing world—in particular, the current state of ecosystems, and their ecological thresholds and buffering capacities. More
The Energy Program
The overall objective of the Energy Program (ENE) is to understand the nature of alternative future energy transitions, their implications for human well-being and the environment, and how they might be shaped and directed by current and future decision makers. More
Back to Global Problem Areas
Further Research areas
Improving Energy Access for the Poor
Education and Development
Related models and tools
Green Jobs
Poverty Traps