Explaining poverty and business with network concepts analysis

• Date: 01 September 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12199
• Published date: 01 September 2020

Bus Soc Rev. 2020;125:311–327.

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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/basr

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INTRODUCTION

According to the World Bank, the most commonly used way to measure poverty is based on income. A

person is considered poor if his or her income level falls below the minimum level necessary to meet

Received: 29 January 2020

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Accepted: 4 February 2020

DOI: 10.1111/basr.12199

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Explaining poverty and business with network

concepts analysis

ElderSemprebon

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Melody de Campos SoaresPorsse

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Elis CristinaGurak

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FlaviaDameto

© 2020 W. Michael Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden,

MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK.

Business Department, Universidade

Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brasil

Correspondence

Elder Semprebon, Business Department,

Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av.

Prefeito Lothário Meissner, 632 – 2° andar

– Jardim Botânico, Curitiba, PR 80210-

170, Brasil.

Email: elder.semprebon@gmail.com

Abstract

Poverty observed from business in the academic field has

evolved in some publications and is characterized as a

multidimensional phenomenon, having several theoretical

strands that add their attention to this problem. The objec-

tive of this study is to identify and cluster the variables of

poverty in the business area through the network analysis.

There were 1,745 keywords mentioned in 566 papers about

the theme present in the Scopus database between 2000 and

2016. The results demonstrate a network with four clusters:

(a) Economy, government and people; (b) Community, in-

stitutions and market; (c) Business and environment; and

(d) Social aspects and finance. From the network, it is pos-

sible to understand the most cited categories of variables

(research methodology and business aspects), the most con-

solidated relations between categories of variables (poverty

and economic aspects), the most studied area (Economy,

government and people), and the gaps to be explored.

KEYWORDS

business, network analysis, poverty

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SEMPREBON Et al.

their basic needs. This minimum level is often called the “poverty line.” Each country uses lines that

are appropriate to their level of development, norms, and social values.

Frequently, poverty is defined in relative or absolute terms. Absolute poverty measures poverty

concerning the amount of money needed to meet basic food needs, linked to physical survival. Relative

poverty defines poverty concerning the economic status of other members of society: people are poor

if they are below the standard of living in a given social context.

Literature in the area of economics and business considers poverty as a complex subject and pres-

ents multiple understandings about the phenomenon. In this sense, we propose to classify individuals

according to poverty levels from the more extreme strata (subsistence) to the consideration of poverty

as insufficiency of more general capacities that deprive people of living the life they desire (Sachs,

2005; Sen, 1999). Several authors emphasize the importance of business for poverty alleviation, high-

lighting solutions from the perspective of entrepreneurship and empowerment of individuals (Yunus,

2010), access to specially shaped consumer goods at the base of the pyramid (Prahalad & Hart, 2002)

or the change in negative behaviors that lead individuals to the state of poverty (Kotler & Lee, 2009).

The issue of poverty in the economic and business perspective also relates to governance issues

(Biglan & Cody, 2013; Farazmand, 2012), communities (Dahiya, 2012; Inayatullah & Song, 2014),

institutions (Kolk, 2014; Lewis & Lewis, 2014; Sutter, Webb, Kistruck, & Bailey, 2013; Ravallion

& Lokshin, 2010), entrepreneurship and the market (Bajde, 2013; Sridharan & Viswanathan, 2008),

finance (Carbonell-Esteller, 2012; Davidson & Sahli, 2015; Hick, 2013), and environment (Chandna

et al., 2012; Izenstark, Oswald, Holman, Mendez, & Greder, 2016).

Although the area of study is consolidated, few studies offer a synthesis of publications on pov-

erty and business. The study by Kolk, Rivera-Santos, and Rufín (2014) presents a systematic review

of articles based on the pyramid according to the perspective of Prahalad and Hart (2002) published

between 2000 and 2009. There are no previous studies that present a panorama on the variables ad-

dressed in research related to poverty and business, which is necessary for the current understanding

of the topic and reflection on possible advances.

The objective of this study is to identify and group the variables of poverty in the business area

through network analysis. For the analysis of networks, we considered 1,745 keywords mentioned in

566 articles on the theme present in the Scopus database between 2000 and 2016.

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POVERTY AND BUSINESS

The studies on poverty are marked by a variety of concepts and understandings about the subject,

demonstrating that it is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. Historically, three alternative

approaches to poverty have emerged, based on the ideas of subsistence, basic needs, and relative

poverty (Towsend, 2006). In the first perspective, an individual is defined as poor if they do not

have enough income to get a minimum amount of food that is needed to meet vital nutritional needs.

According to this perspective, human needs are restricted only to material and physical issues, and

individuals are seen merely as consumers of material goods and not as social beings who participate in

society by playing multiple roles. Thus, the notion of meeting basic needs is operationalized indirectly

through income.

The basic needs approach considers that there are other specific needs besides food that must be

met, such as clothing and shelter, as well as services and facilities that are demanded by the population

as a whole and by local communities such as education, health, sanitation, culture, drinking water,

and transportation. The relative conception of poverty places the social question as central, being

established according to the social and institutional structure in which one lives, that is, it depends on