"Despite the popularity and unique nature of women's self-help groups in India, evidence of their economic impacts is scant. Based on two rounds of a 2,400 household panel, the authors use double differences, propensity score matching, and pipeline comparison to assess economic impacts of longer...

Approximately eighty percent of Cambodians live in rural areas with limited access to clean and affordable water and energy. Thirty-four percent of the rural population lives below the national poverty line on less than 2,367 riels ($0.60) per day. Even though Cambodia is a low income country,...

This paper aims to answer two important questions: how traditional CDD livelihood projects can adjust or adopt practices to strengthen women's economic empowerment outcomes, and how government and other development actors can employ an ecosystem approach to develop coordinated and sustainable...

Cash transfers and digital payments hold promise for women's economic empowerment through their potential to enhance women's privacy, financial autonomy, decision making and labor force participation. Yet, despite this potential, gaps in data and evidence persist. This brief aims to provide...

"This paper examines the ways in which lower-income households obtain basic financial services in urban communities in Mexico and the United States. And it discusses the efforts that private sector and government organizations are making to lower the cost or improve the quality of those...

This report presents an overview of current and projected market trends for off-grid lighting. It was commissioned and coordinated by Lighting Africa,a joint initiative from IFC and the World Bank.The report provides a snapshot of the off-grid lighting market and provides industry level data and...

Poverty is at the root of the problems facing many public housing projects in the U.K. today. Experience emerging from 100 low-income housing estates echoes findings from urban upgrading for the poor in developing countries. Tackling poverty and unemployment in low income communities cannot be...