Financial Well-being and Social Protection

A Randomized Control Trial of a Soft Commitment Product: a Pilot

This pilot study tests the uptake and usage of variations of a “contract-free” (soft) commitment savings product. … Read More

The Economic Returns to Social Interaction: Experimental Evidence from Microfinance

This study examines whether a development intervention that involves constant group interaction and standard microfinance lending, builds capital.
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Do Flexible Repayment Schedules Improve the Impact of Microcredit? Evidence from Rural India

An evaluation that studies the effects of flexible repayment schedules on borrowers’ investment level, consumption, and loan default in the dairy industry in India. … Read More

A Randomized Evaluation of an Agent Intermediated Loan

This study evaluates a more flexible system of lending that involves individual rather than group liability, exploring variations where local intermediaries like shopkeepers, traders and lenders function as commissioned loan agents. … Read More

Understanding the Incentives of Commision Motivated Agents in Life Insurance: Theory and Evidence from Indian Life Insurance

This study examines how commissions influence insurance agents in revealing financial information to their customers and how customers use (or misuse) this information to make financial decisions. … Read More

Savings Monitor: Deploying Local Social Networks To Mobilize Savings

This study examines the impact of monitoring interventions that encourage individuals to save, and their impact on businesses, household welfare and mitigation of financial shocks.  … Read More

Impact Evaluation on Savings Training on Microcredit Groups in Rural India

A study that examines the influence of a financial literacy program on financial behaviour in order to understand the impact of microfinance in rural areas. … Read More

An Assessment of the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS)

This study evaluates the NAIS scheme in terms of coverage, pay-outs and other relevant outcomes to understand the causal linkages between insured lending portfolios and agricultural credit flows. … Read More

Microloans, Bednets and Malaria: Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial in Odisha

This study evaluates the uptake of a health-protecting technology, insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs), through micro-consumer loans, as compared to free distribution and control conditions.
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Putting Money in Motion: How Much do Migrants Pay for Domestic Transfers?

The study provides insights into the different remittance channels that migrants opt for and the associated money-transfer costs they incur, to understand the various difficulties faced by migrants in transferring money within the country, despite considerable willingness to pay for safe and convenient mode of transfer. … Read More