Poverty is linked to deep inequalities that limit people's ability to improve their well-being. These inequalities are connected to social institutions. It is therefore crucial to design policies that strengthen these institutions.

Eradicating it is not only about providing access to material resources, but also about strengthening community participation and respect for human rights.

This year, 2024, Nobel Prize winners Economics are Professors Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson. They have researched how a country's institutions influence its prosperity or failure.

Acemoglu and Robinson developed the theory of inclusive and extractive institutions. Inclusive ones are those that allow people to participate in Economics and guarantee property rights, and are core topic for sustainable growth. In the book Why Countries Fail (2012), the authors explain how institutions determine differences in wealth and well-being in the world.

The work of the three laureates highlights the importance of political and economic Structures . In 2001, they published the article The Colonial Origins of Comparative development , in which they show how the institutions created during colonial times left lasting effects.

The authors point out that poverty is not due to geography or climate, but that the root cause is political and economic institutions that concentrate power in an elite. These institutions limit opportunities for inclusive growth and development .

The countries that remain poor do so because their institutions prevent the creation of a more equitable Economics .

The contributions of Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson are part of a larger discussion . Other economists have studied how institutions and human behavior interact. A prominent example is Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize at Economics, in 2009.

Ostrom showed that the commons are best managed from the bottom up, adapting to local norms. Her work highlights the importance of social capital, which includes trust and cooperation between people and strengthens institutions, facilitating their functioning.

When institutions are strong and reliable, social capital flourishes. This reduces costs and allows communities to cooperate more effectively. However, when institutions are weak, social capital can act as a palliative.

Sometimes, the informal networks that emerge in these situations can weaken institutional authority. Therefore, it is essential that formal institutions and social capital mutually reinforce each other to achieve social welfare.

It is also relevant to mention the findings of Claudia Goldin, winner of the Nobel Prize in 2023, whose research focuses on cooperation within marriage. Goldin studies how gender dynamics in the household affect not only job opportunities, but also the economic well-being of families.

Equality and cooperation within marriage are factors that contribute to social capital at the community level, since a society in which couples cooperate effectively is more likely to create support networks that benefit all its members.

Goldin's research highlights that when men and women are able to negotiate their roles and responsibilities equally, the family tends to thrive, which strengthens the social fabric. This creates a positive cycle whereby the strengthening of the family contributes to the strengthening of communities, and vice versa. Thus, social capital and strong institutions facilitate cooperation and stability in couple relationships, which in turn promote economic equality and social mobility .

The partnership and equity in the home become, therefore, an extension of the principles of inclusion and cooperation at the community level. In this sense, social capital is not only about external networks and trust, but also about how families, as basic institutions of society, build internal cooperation.

This opens a path for public policies that promote equality in the home as a basis for robust social capital and, ultimately written request, as a pillar for reducing poverty and improving social cohesion.

From this perspective, it is clear that social capital depends not only on external institutions, but also on relationships within the community. The programs of study of all these Nobel laureates suggest that, to effectively combat poverty, public policies should promote equality in both the public and private spheres, thus fostering a solid foundation for more cooperative and resilient communities, starting with the family. development .