Date: 2024-05-15 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00002875
Ideas
Economics at the Bottom of the Pyramid
Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: A Mirage
COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: A Mirage
Abstract:
The popular 'bottom of the pyramid' (BOP) proposition argues that large companies can make a fortune by selling to poor people and simultaneously help eradicate poverty. While a few market opportunities do exist, the market at the BOP is generally too small monetarily to be very profitable for most multinationals. At the same time, the private sector can play a key role in poverty alleviation by viewing the poor as producers, and emphasize buying from them, rather than selling to them.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 42
Keywords: Poverty, Bottom of the pyramid, Selling to the poor, social responsibility
JEL Classification: I30, M10
Accepted Paper Series
Suggested Citation
Karnani, Aneel G., Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: A Mirage. Ross School of Business Paper No. 1035; California Management Review, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=914518
Contact Information
Aneel G. Karnani (Contact Author)
University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email )
701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 United States
Open the PDF in a new window
See text of the paper as TVM webpage 2878
Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: A Mirage ... How the private sector can help alleviate poverty Aneel Karnani, Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan E-mail: akarnani@umich.edu April 2007 This paper will be published in the California Management Review, Summer 2007.
This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Sciences Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://ssrn.com/abstract=914518