We investigate the puzzle of microfinance: that loans generate large measured returns for businesses, yet loan take …-up is low and the businesses often close. We analyze a randomized trial that bundled microfinance loans with a cheap health … business losses, rather than pay modest insurance premiums, implies the substantial financial gains from microfinance loans are …

We examine how participation in a microfinance program diffuses through social networks. We collected detailed … demographic and social network data in 43 villages in South India before microfinance was introduced in those villages and then … first informed about the program, "the injection points". Microfinance participation is higher when the injection points …

This paper reports on the first randomized evaluation of the impact of introducing the standard microcredit group … of a particular microfinance institution (Spandana) while the remainder were not, although other MFIs were free to enter … likely to have a microcredit loan. They were no more likely to start any new business, although they were more likely to …

years after microfinance–an intervention commonly believed to lower the cost of credit and spark business creation … “gung-ho entrepreneurs” (GEs)–those who started a business before microfinance entered–more access to microfinance. Notably …, these effects persist two years after microfinance was withdrawn from Hyderabad. However, any persistent benefits to …

This paper reports the results from a randomized evaluation of a microcredit program introduced in rural areas of … Morocco starting in 2006 by Al Amana, the country's largest microfinance institution. Al Amana was the only MFI operating in …, microcredit access led to a significant rise in investment in assets used for self-employment activities (mainly animal husbandry …

This paper reports the results from a randomized evaluation of a microcredit program introduced in rural areas of … Morocco starting in 2006 by Al Amana, the country’s largest microfinance institution. Al Amana was the only MFI operating in …, microcredit access led to a significant rise in investment in assets used for self-employment activities (mainly animal husbandry …

We analyze a randomized trial in which microfinance loans were bundled with an unpopular (but cheap) health insurance … due to administrative failures in implementation. Therefore, non-renewing clients' valuation of microfinance is … the modest insurance premium, implies the substantial financial gains from microfinance are mostly dissipated by …

We examine how participation in a microfinance program diffuses through social networks. We collected detailed … demographic and social network data in 43 villages in South India before microfinance was introduced in those villages and then … first informed about the program, "the injection points". Microfinance participation is higher when the injection points …