Two new papers exploring the 'base of the pyramid' concept crossed my desk recently. We posted both of them to the Newsroom, but they also merit a slightly longer discussion.

First, Jean-Louis Warnholz of the University of Oxford's Queen Elizabeth House has a new working paper out entitled "Poverty Reduction for Profit? A critical examination of business opportunities at the Bottom of the Pyramid." In his paper, Warnholz studies overarching BoP strategy and applies a new dataset - based on price survey data - to look deeply at the extent of a 'poverty penalty' at the BoP.

Warnholz's paper merits a close read, especially for academic members of the BoP community. I will hold off on giving my impression of his paper - other than to say that it's worthy of a close read - until I have had the chance to speak with the author himself (I have a request out to him - stay tuned to NextBillion.net.)

The second paper I recommend is David Lehr's just-posted "Going Wireless: Dialing for Development." (Full disclosure: I provided David with feedback on the initial drafts of this paper.) In it, Lehr - a 2007 Acumen Fund Fellow - examines the role of mobile devices in expanding economic opportunity at the BoP.

While "Going Wireless" is not the first examination of the role of technology for development, Lehr does an excellent job culling the best lessons and examples from the existing literature while offering his own keen insights and analysis. I highly recommend giving this paper a thorough read, and find it especially useful as an introduction/overview of the mobiles-for-development space.

If NextBillion readers have particular thoughts on these two papers, please post them in the comments section below.

The January 10th edition of the Economist takes note, in two separate pieces, of the huge successes of a handful of large MNCs. It highlights how these firms have successfully shaken up their industries and acquired well-known brands in their efforts to capture large swaths of global market share. Usually this wouldn't mean much for the BoP. In fact, what does the potential acquisition of a luxury brand like Jaguar, or a deal for a steel giant, "cooked up... [by father and son] during their annual skiing holiday in St Moritz," have to do with the BoP?

Maybe not much, but maybe the Economist is on to something. What the magazine was so interested in reporting was not the private sector's search for growth, but rather that all of these MNCs are from "poorer countries" (India, Brazil, China), and each one is making major headway in capturing rich markets. They have also done well in their home markets, meaning that while we are definitely talking about an internationalized business elite, we are talking about one that does business at home, too.

The emergence of ‘developing country' MNCs - Embraer, Mittal, Tata Motors, Cemex, and others - seems to turn on its head the anti-globalization movement's typical characterization of MNCs as Western neocolonial forces working to suck developing countries dry. One wonders if soon the "Western" element will be conveniently dropped from those arguments about capitalist imperialism, or if the arguments will have to be re-defined altogether.

But rhetoric aside, these articles and this trend pose interesting questions about how these MNCs will be viewed by the very large BoP populations in their home countries. Will these MNCs be viewed as a source of national pride, of the hope of a more prosperous future for all? Or will they be seen as profiting from an abundance of cheap labor to make their fortunes abroad and become focal points of social agitation? Will they be icons of the "haves" to the have-nots, or will they be seen as job-creators and leaders of national growth?

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