We compare two different methods of appointing a local commission agent as an intermediary for a credit program. In the Trader-Agent Intermediated Lending Scheme (TRAIL), the agent was a randomly selected established private trader, while in the Gram Panchayat-Agent Intermediated-Lending Scheme...

This paper uses a large natural field experiment to identify the effects of formal savings on interhousehold transfers in villages, and the spillover impacts of service-expansion on de facto ineligibles residing in the same community. Despite widespread interest in microfinance, spillover...

This paper uses a large natural field experiment to identify the effects of formal savings on interhousehold transfers in villages, and the spillover impacts of service-expansion on de facto ineligibles residing in the same community. Despite widespread interest in microfinance, spillover...

This paper studies the impact of remittances on investment. Workers’ remittances to developing countries have grown to be an important source of financing, amounting to around $300 billion a year. The funds are used for both consumption and investment in the home countries of the migrants. The...

This chapter uses data from the 1992/93 and 1997/98 Vietnam Living Standards Surveys (VLSS) to describe patterns of money transfers between households. Rapid economic growth during the 1990's did little to diminish the importance of private transfers in Vietnam. Private transfers are large and...

Leadind advocates for microfinance have put forward an enticing "win-win" proposition: microfinance institutions that follow the principles of good banking will also be those that alleviate the most poverty. A key tenet is that poor households demand access to credit, not cheap credit. This...

Literatures on financial development and economic growth nexus have rapidly grown. Over more than a decade, research topics have been extended to a wider nexus of financial sector development-economic growth-and poverty alleviation. Regarding to the topic, access to finance becomes an important...

El programa de Asignación Universal por Hijo en Argentina extiende a los desocupados y trabajadores informales un beneficio antes limitado a los empleados formales. Esta extensión podría modificar los incentivos laborales, estimulando una menor participación en el sector formal respecto de...