The MRAP Report details the capacity building program of CMF conducted over the last three years. This document summarizes the activities covered under Microfinance Researchers Alliance Program (MRAP)- a research capacity development programme funded by Ford Foundation in the span … Read More
Publications
Incidence of Loan Default in Group-lending Programme
This report explores the reasons and costs of hidden loan delinquency, despite high group repayment rates prevalent in the group lending mechanism. In a Joint Liability Group, if one of the members fails to repay a loan fully, the responsibility … Read More
Impact of EKO’s Simplibank on the Saving Behaviour and Practices of Low-income Customers: The Indian Experience
This report presents insights from a study that aims at understanding the impact of EKO’s mobile money on the savings behavior and practices of low income users and its transformative potential on the economic lives of the users in terms … Read More
Five Years of Researching Financial Services for the Poor
This report, a collection of key CMF studies conducted over the last five years, is meant to serve as a reference document for policymakers, practitioners, researchers and others interested in financial services for the poor. More specifically, the studies presented … Read More
Multiple Loans: How Frequently do Rural Poor Opt for Multiple Borrowing?
This study throws light on the patterns of multiple borrowing that was prevalent in Andhra Pradesh. Following up on the Access to Finance Study, CMF visited 428 households in two districts of Andhra Pradesh. 36% of 428 households (153 households) … Read More
Futures Prices Information for Small and Medium Farmers
This policy paper reports on a series of interventions designed to enable farmers to use information from futures markets with the goal of helping them improve agricultural planning and decision-making, reduce their risk exposure, and increase harvest time revenue.
Rethinking RBI Regulations for MFIs
This policy note reviews recent amendments to RBI regulations, and examines whether these regulations align with the requirements of microfinance clients. The note also puts forth recommendations for reforming guidelines regarding the eligibility of MFIs for priority sector lending.
Policy Lessons from Marketing Monsoon Onset Insurance in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh
This policy note summarizes evidence of the existence of informal insurance networks and the extent of such informal exchanges in community level financial management. It provides information regarding the interaction of the informal and formal insurance markets, assessing the demand … Read More
Can Formal Banking Raise the Incomes of the Poor?
This policy note reports the results of a systematic review of the empirical literature investigating the impact of access to formal banking services on the income of the poor. Taking a functional approach to finance, the authors define formal banking … Read More
Social Networks and Microfinance
The study of how network structures influence economic activity is increasingly becoming the subject of interest within Development Economics. This note summarises patterns of social interaction influence an individual’s economic behaviour including employment, career choice, consumption, investment, risk sharing and … Read More