This report presents findings and lessons learnt from an assessment of the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project – Jeevika.
Publications
Do Flexible Repayment Schedules Improve the Impact of Microcredit? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Rural India
In this paper, the authors present findings from a randomized evaluation of flexible microcredit repayment schedules relative to “normal” inflexible, fixed repayment schedules.
The Need for Better Evidence to Evaluate the Health & Economic Benefits of India’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
In this review the existing evidence on the impact of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is discussed in the context of international literature available on health insurance. We describe potential pathways through which health insurance can affect health and economic … Read More
Assessment of Karnataka’s Akshaya Shakti Nidhi (Green Energy Fund)
The Karnataka Renewable Energy Policy (2009-14) sets a target of generating an additional 4200 MW through renewable energy (RE) sources. As part of this policy, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) plans to introduce a “Green Energy Cess” on commercial and … Read More
KGFS: Impact on Lending Patterns
This brief presents preliminary results from an evaluation of access to formal finance in Tamil Nadu. The study was conducted by researchers from EPoD – Harvard and Duke University, in partnership with LEAD.
Implementation of a Women-based Community Driven Development (CDD) Programme in Tamil Nadu: The Pudhu Vaazhvu Project (PVP)
This case study examines one community driven development project in southern India, called the Pudhu Vaazhvu Project (PVP). The study reveals that most poor families in the examined region are included in PVP PIP list (the PVP’s list of poor … Read More
The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation
This paper reports results from the randomized evaluation of a group lending microcredit program in Hyderabad, India. A lender worked in 52 randomly selected neighborhoods, leading to an 8.4 percentage point increase in takeup of microcredit. Small business investment and … Read More
Barriers to Basic Banking: Results from an Audit Study in South India
This working paper presents findings from an experimental study conducted in urban South India to examine the barriers faced by customers in purchasing a low-cost savings product. The authors found that banks have a high ability to influence financial access … Read More
Engendered Access Engendered Care? Evidence from a Major Indian Hospital
A central feature of many developing countries is the presence of significant gender differentials in health outcomes. Two potential factors that can account for this are that females access treatment later than males and that they receive differential care at … Read More
Dynamics of Demand for Index Insurance: Evidence from a Long-run Field Experiment
This paper estimates how experimentally-manipulated experiences with a novel financial product, rainfall index insurance, affect subsequent insurance demand. Using a seven-year panel, we develop three main findings. First, recent experience matters for demand, consistent with overinference from small samples. Second, … Read More