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Standing Tall and Growing Strong: Effective Investments in the Early Years
October 24, 2016Theme: Inclusion and Shared Prosperity

According to the most recent estimates from the Lancet series on early childhood development, 250 million children under the age of five in low and middle-income countries are exposed to stunting and extreme poverty, putting them at risk of poor developmental outcomes.

In this talk, Emanuela Galasso will review the productivity and equity arguments behind ‘high quality’ investments in the early years of life, focusing on nutrition and early childhood development interventions. Even when the economic case is made, the ‘what’ and ‘how’ are critically important to achieve effectiveness. Emanuela will discuss how we can use the evidence from developmental science and economics to understand mechanisms and inform better policy design of interventions that achieve long-term impact and can be implemented at scale. Finally, she will zoom in on the behavioral change dimension of nutrition and childhood development interventions, focusing on the role of information, beliefs, and agency that the poor have in adopting optimal behaviors.

Last Updated: Oct 12, 2016

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    Emanuela Galasso, Senior Economist, Research Department

    Emanuela Galasso is a Senior Economist in the Development Research Group (Poverty and Inequality Team) at the World Bank. Emanuela’s work focuses on the design of anti-poverty programs, with a focus on social protection, nutrition, and early childhood development in middle and low-income countries. Her current work involves investigating the effectiveness of nutrition and early stimulation interventions in Madagascar, Djibouti, and Chile, and social protection interventions in Malawi and Chile. Emanuela holds a B.A. in Economics from Bocconi University and an MA and Ph.D. in Economics from Boston College.
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    Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, Director of Research

    Asli Demirgüç-Kunt is the Director of Research in the World Bank. After joining the Bank in 1989 as a Young Economist, she has held different positions, including Director of Development Policy, Chief Economist of Financial and Private Sector Development Network, and Senior Research Manager, doing research and advising on financial sector and private sector development issues.
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    Keith Hansen, Vice President, Human Development

    Keith Hansen is the Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank Group, overseeing the Global Practices for education; health, nutrition, and population; and social protection and labor. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Hansen was one of the co-vice presidents for all of the Global Practices responsible for the setup and oversight of the Bank Group’s new operating model, which aimed at bringing together the best expertise from across the institution and from partners to help tackle countries’ most complex development challenges. In that role, he was also responsible for the oversight of the Cross-Cutting Solution Areas, which focus the WBG's efforts and resources on achieving ambitious targets in key priority areas such as gender and jobs.

The Policy Research Talks showcase the latest findings of the research department and their implications for World Bank operations. The goal of the monthly event is to facilitate a dialogue between researchers and operational staff, so that we can challenge and contribute to the World Bank's intellectual climate and re-examine conventional wisdom in current development theories and practices.  Read More »

Event Details
  • Time: 12:30 – 2:00 PM, October 24, 2016
  • Location: MC C2-131, World Bank Headquarters
  • CONTACT: Tourya Tourougui
  • ttourougui@worldbank.org
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