Money, debt and public health: A US-UK collaborative research initiative

How can money and banking be used as a force for good - not only lifting people out of poverty, but as a tool for improving the health and well-being of our most-vulnerable communities?

This is the vision of Professor Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate. At this event, you will hear about how research at one of Glasgow Caledonian’s flagship research centres, the Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health, has been addressing the above questions. This research has been inspired by the work on Portfolios of the Poor and the US Financial Diaries, authored in part by internationally-renowned microfinance researcher, Professor Jonathan Morduch of New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Programme
2.30pm Registration and refreshments
3.00pm Welcome and Introduction: Muhammad Yunus and the University for the Common Good
Cam Donaldson, Yunus Chair in Social Business & Health, Pro Vice Chancellor Research, Glasgow Caledonian University
3.20pm The US Financial Diaries: how American families cope in a world of uncertainty
Jonathan Morduch, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University
3.50pm Refreshment break
4.00pm The Glasgow and London Diaries: financial lives and well-being
Dr Olga Biosca, Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health, Glasgow Caledonian University and GCU London
4.30pm Discussion and closing remarks

Glasgow Caledonian University’s Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health was opened in July 2010 and named after the University’s Chancellor (2012-18), Professor Muhammad Yunus. The Centre now comprises a staff and PhD complement of 35, having earned competitive research income of over £5m. The Centre is home to research leaders in economics, social policy, politics, anthropology and history, with staff covering a range of methodological expertise in qualitative and quantitative research. Nationally and internationally, the Yunus Centre has established a reputation for research into the impacts of social enterprise, microfinance, civil society, health services and public health initiatives on the social determinants of health and wellbeing.

Speaker Profiles:

Cam Donaldson
Cam is a renowned health economist who has been a professor at Aberdeen University, followed by the Svare Chair in Health Economics at the University of Calgary and the Health Foundation Chair in Health Economics at Newcastle University. Cam has held several prestigious fellowship awards and published over 250 refereed articles in economics, medical, health policy and health management journals and (co-) authored/edited several books on health economics and public service delivery. Since coming to Glasgow Caledonian University to direct its Yunus Centre in 2010, Cam has developed a programme of research on assessing impacts of microcredit and social business on health and wellbeing.

Jonathan Morduch
Jonathan Morduch studies poverty, finance, and international development. He has written about how microfinance really works and how low-income families construct financial lives. His co-authored books include `The Financial Diaries: How American Families Cope in a World of Uncertainty' and ‘Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day’. Morduch is professor of public policy and economics at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU, and he is executive director of the Financial Access Initiative.

Olga Biosca
Olga Biosca is a Senior Lecturer and lead researcher on Microfinance at the Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health. Her research focuses on the connection between financial management, microcredit, and health in both developing countries and the UK. Biosca is leading the first ‘Financial Diaries’ research project in the UK, which aims to explore the financial management strategies used by the low-income population and how these connect to their health and wellbeing. She has written about microcredit-plus-health programmes and conditional cash transfers.