Upending the Pyramid: Measuring Success at the BoP

Tayo Akinyemi — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:22:42 -0400

I just finished reading Freakonomics, the NY Times Bestseller written by “rogue economist” Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner. It’s about using economic thinking and data analysis to answer practical questions and challenge conventional wisdom. Truly, there is nothing I love more than folks who consciously and skillfully upend easy assumptions. Except perhaps, those who find ways to prove what works using hard data. In the words of the recently-liberated Paris Hilton, “that’s hot.”

As a result, I suppose that it’s not surprising that Freakonomics has inspired me to tackle two of the most difficult questions on my list of twenty:

How do you define success at the BoP?
How do you quantify it?

Well, fortunately for me, WRI and the IFC have gone a long away toward answering question #2 by publishing the report, “The Next Four Billion.” We now have a very good idea of just how large these markets are. As we all know, assessing the size of the market is a key element of business planning and finance solicitation. We also know that the sizeable profit that accompanies sizeable markets is a great motivator for business development.

However, there is no consensus about how to define and quantify the social benefits derived from building BoP businesses. For example, does success result when the market shrinks, as previously unmet needs are met, or when it expands, indicating that more people are soliciting more services? Moreover, do products consumed and services rendered enhance their beneficiaries’ quality of life, yield a higher GDP per capita, reduce disease prevalence, or create some other desirable socioeconomic benefit? If so, how do we know?

(This post continues past the break; Click "Read More" to continue)

NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Upending the Pyramid: Measuring Success at the BoP - Comments

Upending the Pyramid: Measuring Success at the BoP