While the concept of social sustainability is growing in salience, there is little consensus on how to measure it. This lack of an accepted measure makes it harder to monitor progress toward sustainable development goals, honor political commitments to leave no one behind, and design effective...

"Although there has been considerable recent interest in micro-credit programs, rigorous evidence on the impacts of forming self-help groups to mobilize savings and foster social empowerment at the local level is virtually non-existent, despite a large number of programs following this pattern....