•  

Tag Search: “financial inclusion”

What lies behind this year's economics Nobel

In this post, Maitreesh Ghatak discusses how randomised controlled trials – the use of which was pioneered by this year’s economics Nobel Laureates, Banerjee, Duflo, and Kremer – have been successfull...

  • Perspectives

Can the microcredit model be improved?

Microcredit is frequently touted as an effective policy tool to fight global poverty. However, studies suggest that the long-term impact on recipients’ lives is limited. In this post, Mushfiq Mobarak ...

  • Articles

Closing gender gaps in India: Does increasing women’s access to finance help?

Gender gaps in women’s economic opportunities – in the labour market and in entrepreneurship – have remained high in India. This article analyses the macroeconomic impact of closing gender gaps in acc...

  • Articles

Labelled loans and sanitation investments

Rural Indian households report lack of affordability as the main reason for not having a toilet. This article investigates – through an experiment in rural Maharashtra – whether microcredit labelled f...

  • Articles

Measuring the equilibrium impacts of credit: Evidence from India’s 2010 microfinance crisis

In October 2010, the government of Andhra Pradesh issued an emergency ordinance, bringing microfinance activities in the state to a complete halt and causing a nationwide shock to the liquidity of len...

  • Articles

Financial inclusion in India: Progress and prospects

Financial inclusion is globally considered as a critical indicator of development and well-being of society. In this post, Srinivasa Rao traces the financial inclusion journey in India so far, and dis...

  • Perspectives

The cycle of debt among vendors in India and the Philippines

Many street vendors rely on daily or weekly loans from moneylenders to finance working capital. Given the high interest rates, why do they not use a little bit of each day’s earnings to buy working ca...

  • Articles

Research gaps and policy priorities: Evidence from Bihar

The gap between research and policy priorities has always presented an enormous challenge both for academics and policymakers. With a scarcity of rigorous evidence in certain areas, this gap is partic...

  • IGC Research on India

Informal Insurance under Group Lending with Individual Liability

This study aims to provide empirical support to the hypothesis that informal insurance plays an important role in the context of group lending under individual liability, and to evaluate the impact of...

  • IGC Research on India

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 ...

  • IGC Research on India

Give women credit

Since its inception in the 1970s microfinance has emerged as an important tool to support livelihoods among those who lack access to traditional banking services, though the method has its critics. Er...

  • Articles

Indoor air pollution and stunting among Indian children

While the conversation on air quality has been focussed largely on outdoor air pollution, millions of deaths occur due to indoor air pollution as well. Based on 2005–2006 National Family Health Survey...

  • Articles