Finance
Low-income households need effective financial tools to help manage and grow their money. Yet many of the financial services they can access are costly, unsafe, or not well-suited to their needs. To support financial inclusion efforts around the world, the Financial Inclusion Program at IPA partners with service providers, governments, and researchers to design and rigorously test financial services and programs encouraging healthy financial behavior among the poor.
In addition to supporting policymakers in applying evidence from randomized evaluations to their work, sector chairs and staff write policy insights that synthesize general lessons emerging from the research and condense results from evaluations in policy publications and evaluation summaries.
In the news
Digital wages can make fintech inclusive
A study conducted by J-PAL affiliate Emily Breza in Bangladesh found that paying low-earning manufacturing workers digitally through a mobile banking service helps them improve their spending habits and gain more trust in banking systems while allowing them to learn more about finance technology.
Evaluation
Encouraging Adoption of Rainwater Harvesting Tanks Through Collateralized Loans in Kenya
In the news
Lessons from GST for eliminating the Rs1 trillion lying around as float
Research by J-PAL affiliates found that improvements to the method for transferring public benefits in India reduced program expenditure by 24%.
Evaluation
A Multifaceted Approach to Increase Women’s Empowerment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Researchers evaluated a multifaceted program for women experiencing extreme poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region facing protracted conflict. The intervention had positive and enduring effects on women’s consumption, employment, finances, and empowerment, and small positive impacts...
Evaluation
Flexible Loan Contracts for Microentrepreneurs in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, researchers partnered with BRAC to evaluate the impact of repayment flexibility in loan contracts for microentrepreneurs. Repayment flexibility benefited traditional microfinance borrowers primarily through the provision of insurance, enabling riskier investments at lower default...
