Research

Social action should not be driven purely by emotion. This is even more true when one feels as passionate as we do about helping poor people to break out of the poverty trap. When taking social action, one must always be concerned about best practices. These can only be determined empirically, first by studying what has worked for those who came before you (see our Book Shelf), by asking and answering questions scientifically, and by evaluating consequences. Yes, we are passionate, but we are also committed to proceeding in a careful, scientific way.

On this page, we provide access to papers and reports we have produced in the process of conducting research of various kinds---literature reviews, field research, and evaluation reports.

1. "Economic Development in Poor Communities" by Richard Piper.

This paper examines the thinking of economists who are well informed about the economics of poverty. The paper provides our rationale for committing to a process of "bottom-up" development as contrasted with the model seen most frequently in international development programs, namely, "top-down" development. Click to access the paper.

Click Here to download Economic Development Paper

2. "The Economic Answer to Terrorism" by Richard Piper.

This paper is a case study of the work of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy headed by Hernando deSoto in Lima, Peru. It is based on the book by deSoto entitled The Other Path: The Economic Answer to Terrorism. The book is used to advance the FWH project of promoting economic development in poor rural communities. It allows one to "go to school" on the topic of economic development in a less developed Latin American country. Click to access the paper.

Click here to download Economic Answer to Terrorism

3. "Education in Poor Rural Communities" by Richard Piper.

This paper looks at pedagogical theory and practice as it applies to the design of the educational program to be installed in the first of FWH's Regional Community-Based Economic Development Centers. It looks at community-based learning as an appropriate pedagogical model for educating poor people. The work of Freire in Brasil and that of Cardenal in Solentiname, Nicaragua are seen as examples of the successful use of this approach. It looks at the work of Gardner on multiple intelligences as a way of looking at the design of teaching strategies. Click to access the paper.

Click here to download Education in Poor Rural Communities