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Parul Agarwal
Parul Agarwal heads the impact evaluation group at IFMR-LEAD and manages the organisation’s research portfolio in the space of financial inclusion. She is involved in designing and setting up experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluation studies. These include evaluation of government programmes, programmes by development institutions and innovative products, services and delivery channels. Her research interests are labour mobility, savings and financial behaviour of the poor. She is a co-investigator on some of the related studies in various parts of India. Before joining IFMR in year 2010, Parul earned a Master’s degree in Rural Management from the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB). She is a graduate in Economics from Delhi University.
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Productivity and competition in India’s brick industry
Firm productivity has long been considered a key driver of economic growth. Yet there is little understanding of why the competition and innovation that fuels productivity growth in the developed world seems lower in low- and middle-income countries. When many firms show low productivity and use inferior technologies even when more efficient ones are available
Financial literacy: When, what and how
The need for financial literacy and its importance for financial inclusion have been widely recognised. Based on various research studies on financial literacy initiatives, this column outlines financial services’ needs of a poor household at various stages of its life cycle. It contends that customising financial literacy programmes according to the stage of life of targeted individuals is crucial for their effectiveness.
The plight of 'complimentary' migrants: Children at brick kilns
Migration for work is meant to benefit families of migrant workers. But what if the families migrate along with the worker? Based on visits to brick kilns in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, Parul Agarwal describes the plight of children of migrant workers in the Indian brick manufacturing industry.
Repayment flexibility, contract choice, and investment decisions among Indian microfinance borrowers
Borrowers’ difficulties to comply with repayment obligations, for entrepreneurial and consumption motives, have pushed several microfinance institutions to introduce some degree of flexibility during the loan cycle.