What is hope and how much do hope and aspirations matter in economic development? Different world views throughout history strongly emphasize the differences between wishful hope and inspirational hope.  Wishful hope may motivate fatalism, while inspirational hope may lead to proactive efforts.

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.