Independent Research and Policy Advocacy

Publications

Blogs

We produce blogs to discuss new research findings, ongoing projects, and even personal reflections on the research process. Our blogs are written for a variety of audiences, including other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, financial service providers, grassroots organizations, impact investors and the public. The format is simple and easy to grasp. The language is straightforward, and the tone is non-academic. Our blogs can be of varying lengths. We choose to write a blog when we don’t want to do a full- fledged study or follow a rigorous research process. Blogs may contain opinions and they can also be based on experiences. Some of our blogs may just share some observations, learnings, or challenges.

Our Work

September 18, 2016 | Dvara Research

Why is malnutrition in India’s central belt, which includes the state of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, so high and so persistent despite relatively high rates of income growth?

By Dr. Anjini Kochar
September 1, 2016 | Dvara Research

In a recent report by Wharton Social Impact Initiative & Knowledge@Wharton on Innovative Finance and the various forms it has taken, the report highlights among others, the multi-originator securitization (MOSEC) transaction that was first pioneered by IFMR Capital.

By Dvara Research
August 17, 2016 | Dvara Research

There has been a strong national imperative to move towards a “cashless” economy in India[1]. Despite a substantive impetus from public and private sector forces, the adoption and use of digital modes of payment in the country remains paltry[

By Rachit Khaitan, Nishanth Kumar
August 10, 2016 | Dvara Research

I met today with the promoter and CEO of one of our newer Small Business Loan Originators and visited some of their end borrowers in Bombay.

By Dr. Kshama Fernandes
August 5, 2016 | Dvara Research

In this blog post we feature a conversation between Bama Balakrishnan, CRO, IFMR Capital and Kalpana Pandey, CEO & Managing Director, CRIF High Mark. CRIF High Mark is one of the four credit bureaus that operates in the country.

By Dvara Research
July 27, 2016 | Dvara Research

In this post we have put together an infograph below that highlights some of the aspects pertaining to credit bureau regulatory landscape in India, USA and Australia.

By Vineeth Maddi
July 20, 2016 | Dvara Research

For an institution focussed on delivering high-quality and customised financial services to low-income households, the Wealth Management approach has been the one of the key underlying layers that is core to the KGFS Model.

By Dhivya S
July 14, 2016 | Dvara Research

Insurance contracts to lower income households (micro-insurance) are typically for one year.

By Renuka Sane
July 5, 2016

Payments banks are different from regular banks. They can only accept deposits up to Rs. 1 lakh per person, roughly $1500, and cannot grant loans. Furthermore, payments banks can only invest their money in safe government securities and other highly liquid assets. Their primary objective is to further financial inclusion by providing access to small savings, payments and remittance services to low-income customers without compromising financial stability.

By Liliana Rojas-Suarez
June 30, 2016 | Dvara Research

In this post, we attempt to compare the regulatory landscape for NBFC-MFIs and Housing Finance Companies (HFC) within the broader context of the regulatory landscape for niche credit intermediaries.

By Deepti George, Nishanth Kumar