Poverty traps are commonplace in policy debates today, however, when these poverty traps exist what, where, why and for whom are the next series of questions. When evaluating southern Ethiopian pastorialists nonlinear wealth dynamics resulting in multiple adverse states of nature, herder inability to handle extreme outliers, and significant policy implications are among some of the findings contributing to the regional poverty trap. 

This presentation is based on the AMA Innovation Lab projects for the Conference on the Economics of Asset Dynamics and Poverty Traps. The goal of this workshop was to bring together empirical researchers with modelers working in the area of economic growth and poverty reduction.

This presentation took place in Washington DC, United States on June 28, 2016.