November 30, 2009
Project Update
Microfinance "Graduation" pilots are graduating
It’s no secret few MFIs have had much success mobilizing the “poorest of the poor” into their programs. This failure has remained a persistent irritant in an otherwise phenomenally successful industry.
Microfinance advocates have generally taken one of two approaches to the problem:
1) Press on with the spectacular growth approach, increasing financial access (a good thing) but doing little to help the very poor; or
November 20, 2009
Commentary
Is there collateral-free lending?
Much of the promise of microfinance comes from the fact that people can get loans even if they do not have access to traditional physical collateral such as a house. The idea that people are trustworthy enough to repay loans even without the threat of losing their property makes for an uplifting story, but it is not always true. Guarantors are understandably upset when someone does not repay what they owe, and often try to take something of value from the debtor – such as a gas tank – in order to pay off what they had to guarantee.
November 13, 2009
Commentary
Text message reminders, not just for the treatment group anymore...
Recent articles in the Wall Street Journal and Slate Magazine have highlighted work by IPA researchers that has found the effectiveness of text message reminders in encourage people to save. (Check out the project here, here, and here!)
November 9, 2009
Day in the Life
Dropping Joy
In the field experiment world, we have a strange name for money grants. We call them "capital drops" - a name that invokes food aid being dropped by air in a relief zone, only we deliver cash instead of food, travel in minibuses instead of helicopters, and distribute our cash prizes randomly to eligible people instead of to the most needy. I recently completed my first "capital drop" - we distributed $10,000 in $133 grants - and based on the looks on our participants' faces, "joy drops" might be a more fitting name.
November 9, 2009
Commentary
MDGs 2.0...a role for evaluation?
One of my new favorite development blogs, Aid Thoughts, had an interesting post recently about what should succeed the Millenium Development Goals once they reach their deadline in 2015. I was excited to see Matt, the blogger, focus on how to approach the exercise of goal-setting for development (rather than simply focusing on the content of the goals themselves), and I found myself nodding in agreement to his emphasis on a bottom-up approach that provides room for challenges to be addressed at the local
November 2, 2009
Interview
Economists are people too
Reading the complex theories and equations in many academic papers often leaves me wondering, "Wow, who wrote this stuff?" It's easy to forget that academic economists don't eat math for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or run regressions on vacation just for fun. This short Q&A from The Root gives a peek into the real-person world of IPA Research Affiliate and recent "Genius Award" winner Esther Duflo.