March 1, 2010
First insights from Mongolian microfinance impact study
The blog over at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently featured a post by Senior Economist Ralph De Haas, who describes a randomized evaluation of microfinance in Mongolia that recently completed fieldwork. Although analysis is ongoing, with full results expected in July o
February 17, 2010
Commentary
Rocking the resident non-citizen vote in Bolivia
Where do resident non-citizens get to vote?
The Bolivian government recently decided that all foreigners who have lived in the country for at least two years can vote in the upcoming elections (actually, they have to vote, otherwise they can't do any bank transactions or leave the country for a month or so after the election). Is this something that other countries do?
January 27, 2010
An Anti-Nudge on the Way to Mexico
IPA President Dean Karlan guest posts on the Nudge blog to share a story about how an "anti-nudge" in his rental car almost side-tracked a trip to visit the Microcredit Impact Study in Northern Mexico...
January 24, 2010
Commentary
What could you live without?
Kristof (again!) has a nice blog post about the tradeoff between consuming things we think we want, at the expense of not giving to charities to help people who struggle for basic needs. Very much like Peter Singer's famous lake analog
January 11, 2010
Are microfinance clients who sell contraband less likely to repay?
I was surprised to learn the other day that in Bolivia a huge fraction of the goods purchased with microcredit are smuggled across the Peruvian and Chilean borders in order to avoid customs (for instance, most appliances are smuggled here). Ignoring the morality of it (I don't think the government cares all that much - many retailers who sell contraband pay sales tax), do you think that the behavior of clients who sell contraband is somehow different? Are people who can and do buy illegal products less likely to care about fulfilling their loan commitments?
