Development

Sterilizing with the sunSolar concentrating system could replace fuel-powered or electric devices in remote villages.

D-Lab Scale-Ups fellowships open for MIT social entrepreneursApplications due April 3

When opportunity meets preparationPolitical science PhD student Laura Chirot examines industrial policy in late developing countries.

Purification on the cheapSystem developed at MIT cleans ‘produced water’ from natural gas wells, could lead to improved desalination plants for developing countries.

Legatum Fellows bring innovation to emerging marketsStudents see opportunities in the emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The high value of waterStudy: People willing to pay more for running water report much higher levels of happiness when they have it.

Young African leaders propose paths to prosperity for the continentMembers of Youth Think Tank meet with Legatum Center staff and fellows at MIT.

Graduate student David Sengeh gives back to Sierra LeoneMedia Lab doctoral student created a competition to help youth in his home country create their own solutions.

Sanergy, led by Legatum Center alumni fellows, wins social innovation awardAims to develop sustainable sanitation services in urban slums

Bringing the world to innovationWith up to $25 million in new USAID funding, MIT’s D-Lab will gain greater ability to help people in the developing world find their own solutions.

MIT a linchpin of major new USAID programInstitute researchers aim to spur development and evaluation of useful technologies to help the world’s poor.

In The World: Helping Brazilians turn waste into productsInternational summit fosters ways of producing everything from food to flooring, using discarded materials.

Thinking about others is not child’s playMIT study reveals changes in brain activity as children learn to read other people’s behavior.

Economist Robert Townsend wins Frisch MedalPrestigious prize granted for research on Thailand’s villages.

Student teams tackle Third World health care issuesLGO students add operations expertise to ghdLab projects

Taking creditWhen Thailand’s government started offering microfinance loans to villagers, did anyone benefit? An MIT economist investigates.

Acemoglu wins Nemmers PrizeMIT economist granted award for ‘fundamental contributions’ on economics, politics and growth.

Duflo wins APPAM’s Kershaw Award for public policy analysis

Taxation without documentationNew study shows ‘informal taxation’ in developing countries is far greater than suspected, supporting public works — and adding a burden for the poor.

In the World: Cultivating creativityFor some of the world’s poorest people, the biggest impact can come from fostering creative problem-solving.

Spotlight on serviceIDEAS and Global Challenge competitions award nearly $150,000 to teams of public service innovators working around the world.

Life on a dollar a dayIn Poor Economics, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo open a window into the lives of the world’s poorest people, and suggest new remedies to combat poverty.

A decade of OCW benefits: Bringing knowledge to the streetUsing OCW in support of community development.

Universities can lead in development, USAID head says during MIT visitDiscusses how new ideas are needed for battling disease, extending education and improving lives in poor nations.

D-Lab’s Amy Smith receives the 2011 Olympus Innovation Award

Why do some countries’ economies grow faster?One of the Media Lab’s newest faculty members is adapting the mathematical tools of statistical physics to study development economics.

Tracing families’ escape from povertyEconomist’s study shows how the poor in developing countries become wealthier.