|
on Microfinance |
| By: | Sandrine Kablan |
| Date: | 2016–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2013-25&r=mfd |
| By: | Asadullah, Niaz (University of Malaya); Ara, Jinnat (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)) |
| Abstract: | Using a four-round panel data set from the first phase of the Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction – Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR – TUP) programme of BRAC, we investigate whether a one-off transfer of livestock assets improves well-being of the very poor women in Bangladesh. Programme impact is assessed on a wide range of monetary and nonmonetary measures of wellbeing using difference-in-difference (DD) as well as matching methods. We find significant positive long-term impact on food security, household savings, assets and participation in microfinance. Participant women are less likely to be in distress occupation and more into self-employment. However, the long-term effect is much smaller for most outcomes when compared to short- and medium-run impacts. We conclude by discussing the significance of the institutional and regional context for the observed time path of estimated programme effect. |
| Keywords: | Bangladesh, farm employment, food security, occupational choice, extreme poverty |
| JEL: | O12 I30 D50 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9749&r=mfd |
| By: | Todo, Yasuyuki; Kozuka, Eiji; Sawada, Yasuyuki |
| Abstract: | While impacts of school-based management (SBM), i.e., decentralization of levels of authority to the school level, in less developed countries have been examined in a number of recent academic studies, the results have been mixed. To bridge a gap in the existing literature, at least partially, this paper evaluates the impact of an SBM program in Burkina Faso, in which targeted schools were rolled out randomly over two years. A novelty of this study is that we examine the program’s impacts on community-wide outcomes captured by the level of trust in others by student’s parents, and their participation in rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs). We hypothesize that parents involved in SBM are more likely to participating in ROSCAs through collaboration with other community members in SBM because they foster trust in others, a necessary precondition for development of informal financial arrangements. Using a unique data set collected exclusively for this study we find that, in particular, relatively poor parents involved in SBM were more likely to participate in ROSCAs than other poor parents. These findings contain two important implications: first, our findings are consistent with the view that social capital, strengthened by SBM, plays a critical complementary role in correcting financial market failures in low income economies (Hayami 2009); and, second, impact evaluation of SBM focusing only on student performance may undervalue its overall effects on the whole community, ignoring important spillover effects of SBM. |
| Keywords: | school-based management , rotating savings and credit associations , trust , Burkina Faso |
| Date: | 2016–02–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:115&r=mfd |
| By: | Fuchs Tarlovsky,Alan; Wolff,Hendrik |
| Abstract: | Although weather shocks are a major source of income fluctuation, most of the world's poor lack insurance coverage against them. Absence of formal insurance contributes to poverty traps, as investment decisions are conflicted with risk management ones: risk-averse farmers tend to underinvest and produce lower yielding yet safer crops. In the past few years, weather index insurance has gained increasing attention as an effective tool to provide small-scale farmers coverage against aggregate shocks. However, there is little empirical evidence about its effectiveness. This paper studies the effect of the recently introduced rainfall-indexed insurance on farmers'productivity, risk management strategies, as well as per capita income and expenditure in Mexico. The identification strategy takes advantage of the variation across counties and across time in which the insurance was rolled-out. The analysis finds that the presence of insurance in treated counties has significant and positive effects on maize productivity. Similarly, there is a positive association between the presence of insurance in the municipality and rural households'per capita expenditure and income, although no significant relation is found between the presence of insurance and the number of hectares destined for maize production. |
| Keywords: | Debt Markets,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Crops and Crop Management Systems,Labor Policies,Rural Poverty Reduction |
| Date: | 2016–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7565&r=mfd |