Michael Lipton (13 February 1937 – 1 April 2023) was an English
development studies
Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the ...
economist specializing in the study of
rural poverty
Rural poverty refers to situations where people living in rural area, non-urban regions are in a poverty, state or condition of lacking the financial resources and essentials for living. It takes account of factors of Rural sociology, rural so ...
in developing countries, including issues relating to
land reform
Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution.
Lan ...
and
urban bias
Urban bias refers to a political economy argument according to which economic development is hampered by groups who, by their central location in urban areas, are able to pressure governments to protect their interests. It is a structural condition ...
. He spent much of his career at the
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
, but also contributed to the work of international institutions, such as the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
's 2000/2001
World Development Report
The World Development Report (WDR) is an annual report published since 1978 by the World Bank. Each WDR provides in-depth analysis of a specific aspect of economic development. Past reports have considered such topics as agriculture, youth, equity ...
on poverty.
Lipton was a
reader, then a
professorial fellow at the university's
Institute of Development Studies
An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes ca ...
1967–94, and later
research professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...
at the University of Sussex's Poverty Research Unit, which he founded.
[Lipton bio](_blank)
, Sussex
Biography
Lipton was born in London on 13 February 1937 to Helen and Leslie Lipton. Both his parents were German Jewish immigrants from
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. He studied at the
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
Haberdashers' Boys' School (formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School) is a 4–18 boys Independent school (United Kingdom) in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
The school was ...
before going to
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world.
With a governing body of a master and aro ...
, graduating with a degree in
Philosophy, politics and economics
Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...
. During his time there he won the university prize for economics and took a fellowship at
All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...
.
He later went on to get a degree from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
.
Lipton was made a professorial fellow at the
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
's
Institute of Development Studies
An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes ca ...
in 1967. He remained associated with the institution for over 30 years. He established the Poverty Research Unit at the university in 1994.
Lipton was elected to the
British Academy
The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
in 2006 and shared the 2012
Leontief Prize. He was appointed Companion Order of St Michael and St George, CMG, for his contributions to international development, in 2003.
Research
Lipton's research focused on developmental studies, specifically, rural development and poverty reduction. He started his research in the village of
Kavathe Yamai in the Indian state of
Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
between 1965 and 1966.
Lipton's interest in this area was influenced by Austrian born British economist
Paul Streeten during his time at Oxford, and by his research for Swedish economist
Gunnar Myrdal
Karl Gunnar Myrdal ( ; ; 6 December 1898 – 17 May 1987) was a Swedish economist and sociologist. In 1974, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Friedrich Hayek for "their pioneering work in the theory of money an ...
, author of ''Asian Drama: An Inquiry Into the Poverty of Nations'' (1968).
Lipton's partnership with Myrdal helped him write "The Theory of the Optimising Peasant" (1968), a paper in which he challenged the then prevailing assumption that small and poor farmers were backward and conservative. He argued that these poor farmers acted rationally and managed their resources more efficiently and intensively than rich farmers. The prevailing views were based on American economist
Theodore Schultz's views, which noted that farmers in developing economies were efficient but poor. Lipton's studies showed that these farmers' unwillingness to adopt new crop varieties, such as those introduced in the middle of the 20th century during the
Green Revolution
The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields. These changes in agriculture initially emerged in Developed country , devel ...
, was due to the higher risk of crop failure, and prevailing hunger, and destitution. However, when later generations of these crops, and the introduction of inputs like fertilizers helped reduce crop loss risk, poor farmers adopted these crops and the underlying technologies. Lipton wrote against the prevailing notion about poor farmers that they were wasteful, by stating that grain losses on their farms were often low.
Lipton further built on these ideas in his book, ''The Crisis of Indian Planning'' (1969), which he co-edited with Paul Streeten.
Lipton's work helped challenge the notion that development could only result from industrialization, which often came at the expense of rural areas through high taxation. His book, ''Why Poor People Stay Poor: Urban Bias and World Development'' (1977), studied the behaviours of the policy makers and urban elites and their discrimination against the rural poor.
Lipton also explored the linkages between agriculture, and health and nutrition, highlighting the ways in which rural people's health and nutrition were guided by agricultural policies. In his book ''Agriculture-Health Linkages'' (1988), co-authored with economist
Emanuel de Kadt for the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
, Lipton demonstrated how to make agricultural policy and institutions provide for the health needs of women and the rural poor.
Lipton worked with various governmental and non-governmental agencies, advising countries such as India, Bangladesh, Botswana, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Africa. He served as an advisor to the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
, where he studied poverty. His book ''New Seeds and Poor People'' (1989) combined his study of poverty and earlier studies of agriculture. An obituary in the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' called the work, the "definitive study of the Green Revolution". He subsequently studied technology-based interventions in agriculture including
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...
.
He also wrote the first Rural Poverty report for the United Nations'
International Fund for Agricultural Development
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is the on ...
in 2001. He also proposed land reforms in southern Africa which were built on market-based approaches to solve historical inequalities.
In addition to his academic research, Lipton was an accomplished chess player and published several books on the subject, including ''The Two-Move Chess Problem'' (1966) and ''Collected Chess Problems of Michael Lipton'' (2016).
His 1956 lecture to the
British Chess Problem Society titled "The German Two-Mover" contributed to Britain's development to the forefront of the
modern two-movers. He was the editor of the chess problems section of the ''
Sunday Citizen'' and ''Correspondence Chess''. He served as the president of the British Chess Problem Society between 2000 and 2002.
Personal life
Lipton married
Merle Babrow, a South African historian and
political economist, in 1966. His wife predeceased him in 2022. The couple had one son.
Outside of his academic life, Lipton was interested in classical music and poetry.
Lipton died on 1 April 2023, at the age of 86.
Selected works
* ''Why Poor People Stay Poor: Urban Bias and World Development'' (1977, 1988)
* ''New Seeds and Poor People'' (with Richard Longhurst, 1989)
* ''Does Aid Work in India?'' (with
John Toye, 1991)
* ''Successes in Anti-poverty'' (1998, 2001)
* ''
Land Reform in Developing Countries: Property rights and property wrongs'' (2009), Routledge,
*
References
External links
Michael Lipton homepage Sussex
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipton, Michael
1937 births
2023 deaths
People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
British development economists
Academics of the University of Sussex
Fellows of the British Academy
Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Chess players from London
English chess writers
English people of German-Jewish descent
20th-century English Jews
21st-century English Jews
Jewish economists
English economists
20th-century British economists
21st-century British economists
Place of death missing