microfinance

Evidence from a large-scale trial in Bangladesh shows that improving credit access in rural areas helped farmers adapt to flood risks without negative spillovers, and was profitable for microfinance institutions.

Offering loans with flexible repayment schedules can improve outcomes for vulnerable borrowers while also reducing the risks faced by lending institutions

Disbursing microfinance loans through mobile money accounts empowers female entrepreneurs to resist pressure to share loans with others

By allowing risk sharing, joint-liability lending can foster entrepreneurship among microcredit borrowers

The introduction of financial institutions in communities may generate long-lasting externalities, including losses in informal social linkages

Microfinance has potentially transformative impacts for some entrepreneurs, especially those who otherwise would be stuck in a poverty trap

Previous estimates of returns to microfinance for women are low partly because they often use it to invest in businesses that are not their own

A series of experiments in India provide insights into ways microfinance can be refined to strengthen its impact for the world’s poorest women