Microfinance Summit
Last week a group of microfinance practitioners and investors gathered in New York City at the 2nd Microfinance Summit to discuss recent developments within the microfinance industry, as well as opportunities in providing healthcare, clean water, and renewable energy to low-income populations.
Thoughts from the CMF-CAB Conference
Last week I attended a conference titled “Microfinance: Translating Research into Practice”, hosted by the Centre for Microfinance in partnership with the College of Agricultural Banking (CAB) in Pune.
Indian Initiatives In Microcredit
The Asian Institute on Transport Development initiated a dialogue on strengthening trade and communication ties between India and Bangladesh on October 12th, 2009 at the India International Centre in Delhi.
Debunking Myths about the Poor and Financial Services
The power of finance to transform the lives of the poor is not well understood.
The Miracle of Microfinance – An Evaluation
The miracle that microfinance is thought to be was subjected to a randomized evaluation in a study which was a result of a research partnership between MIT and the Centre for Microfinance at IFMR.
The miracle of microfinance? Evidence from a randomized evaluation
Microcredit has spread extremely rapidly since its beginnings in the late 1970s, but whether and how much it helps the poor is the subject of intense debate. This paper reports on the first randomized evaluation of the impact of introducing microcredit in a new market. Half of 104 slums in Hyderabad, India were randomly selected for opening of an MFI branch while the remainder were not.
