1st Annual Conference of the Private Sector Development Research Network: Private Enterprise and Inclusion

This conference brings together staff of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and donor agencies involved in private sector development, with academics who study private firms and markets from the fields of economics (such as industrial organization, international trade and investment), finance, business and development studies. A number of the papers and cases being considered relate to agriculture and rural development. Further details and the programme are available here.

Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require investments to grow private enterprise in low and lower middle-income countries (LLMICs) in order to create opportunities for, and provide services to, the poor and other under-served groups. But the behavior of private firms and markets in these countries, and their contributions to sustainable development, are not well understood. In which enterprises is investment most socially beneficial, and how can we obtain evidence of those benefits? In which ways can markets and firms make a difference at a scale that substantially reduces poverty?