Bauchet, JonathanMarshall, CristobalStarita, LauraThomas, JeanetteYalouris, Anna2017-06-052017-06-052011-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/26892This paper summarizes the latest research findings from a new body of empirical evidence that uses randomized evaluations, similar to those used in medical trials, to compare how one group responds to access to specific new financial services against how a comparable group fares without those services. This paper goes back a couple of years to the first studies that used this approach, and summarizes a series of research studies presented at the October 2010 microfinance impact and innovation conference in New York. These studies evaluated product design for a range of financial services, including credit, savings, and insurance. The studies discussed here were undertaken by research affiliates of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), the Financial Access Initiative (FAI), and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; they are all randomized evaluations unless otherwise specified. Part one of this paper reviews the main results from randomized evaluations that measure the impact of microcredit and micro savings on business investment and creation, consumption, and household well-being. Part two presents evidence from evaluations of products and delivery design. Part three discusses the evidence on micro insurance products.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CAPITALACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCESS TO FORMAL CREDITACCESS TO INSURANCEACCESS TO LOANSACCESS TO SAVINGSACCOUNTINGAMOUNT OF MONEYANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATEAPPLICATION PROCESSAPRASYMMETRIC INFORMATIONAVAILABILITY OF CREDITBANK ACCOUNTBANK ACCOUNTSBANKSBIASESBORROWERBORROWINGBUSINESS ACTIVITIESBUSINESS ACUMENBUSINESS FAILUREBUSINESS LOANSBUSINESS OPPORTUNITIESBUSINESS SCHOOLBUSINESS SUCCESSBUSINESS TRAININGCAPITAL STOCKCASH FLOWCHILD DEVELOPMENTCHILD-CARECLEAN CREDITCOLLATERALCOMPOUND INTERESTCONSUMERCONSUMER CREDITCONSUMER FINANCECONTRIBUTIONCREDIT ACCESSCREDIT HISTORYCREDIT MARKETCREDIT OFFICERSCREDIT PRODUCTCREDIT RELATIONSHIPSCREDIT RISKCREDIT SCORINGCREDIT SCORING MODELSCREDIT WORTHINESSCREDIT-SCORINGCROP FAILURECROP INSURANCECURRICULUMDEFAULTERSDEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICSDEPOSITDEPOSIT INSURANCEDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDROUGHTDURABLEDURABLE GOODSEARNINGSECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC POLICYEDUCATION LEVELEMPOWERMENTENROLLMENTENTREPRENEURENTREPRENEURIAL BEHAVIORENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESSEXISTING DEBTEXPENDITUREEXTRA CASHFAMILIESFAMILY MEMBERSFARM INCOMEFARMERFEMALE ENTERPRISESFEMALE-OWNED BUSINESSESFINANCE COMPANYFINANCESFINANCIAL ACCESSFINANCIAL LITERACYFINANCIAL LITERACY TRAININGFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL MARKETFINANCIAL NEEDSFINANCIAL OUTCOMESFINANCIAL PRODUCTFINANCIAL RESOURCESFINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERSFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SUCCESSFINANCIAL_ACCESSFLEXIBLE REPAYMENTFORMAL FINANCIAL SERVICEFORMAL FINANCIAL SERVICESGENDERGENERAL POPULATIONGOOD CREDITGOOD CREDIT HISTORIESGRANTS TO WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSGROUP LENDINGGROUP LOANSHIGH INTEREST RATEHOME IMPROVEMENTSHOUSEHOLD EXPENDITUREHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD INVESTMENTSHOUSEHOLD WELFAREHOUSEHOLDSHUSBANDSINCOME STREAMSINCOMESINFORMAL CREDITINFORMAL INSURANCEINFORMAL LOANSINFORMAL SAVINGSINFORMATION ASYMMETRYINFORMATION ON BUSINESSINSURANCE COMPANYINSURANCE POLICYINSURANCE SCHEMEINVENTORYINVESTINGINVESTMENT CAPITALLACK OF ACCESSLENDERLENDING DECISIONLIABILITYLIMITED ACCESSLOANLOAN ACCESSLOAN AMOUNTLOAN APPLICANTSLOAN APPLICATIONLOAN APPROVALLOAN DISBURSEMENTLOAN REPAYMENTLOAN REPAYMENT RATESLOANS FROM FRIENDSLONG-TERM GOALSLOW-INCOMELOW-INCOME WORKERSMAINSTREAM BANKMARKETINGMEDICAL EXPENSESMERCHANTSMICROCREDITMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONSMICROINSURANCEMONEY MANAGERSMONEYLENDERMONTHLY INCOMEMORAL HAZARDNEW BUSINESSOUTREACHPENETRATION RATESPERSONAL INCOMEPOOR CLIENTSPROBABILITYPURCHASESRATES OF RETURNRECEIPTREPAYMENTREPAYMENT SCHEDULESRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRETURNSRISK AVERSIONRISK MANAGEMENTRISK MITIGATIONRISK PROFILERISKY LOANSRURAL BANKSAFETY NETSALESSAVERSAVERSSAVINGSSAVINGS ACCOUNTSAVINGS GOALSSAVINGS PRODUCTSCHOOL FINANCESELF-EMPLOYMENTSMALL BUSINESSSMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSSMALL BUSINESS LOANSMALL BUSINESS OWNERSSMALL ENTERPRISESSMALL LOANSSMART MONEYSOCIAL CAPITALSOCIAL NETWORKSOUND FINANCIAL PRACTICESSUM OF MONEYTAKE-UP RATESTRAINING PROGRAMTUITIONUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYED WOMENUSURYVALUABLEVENTURE CAPITALVENTURE CAPITAL FIRMSVILLAGEVOUCHERWAGEWELFARE BENEFITSWITHDRAWALWITHDRAWAL FEESWORK FORCEWORKING CAPITALWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/26892