Evaluation of a Rural Microfinance Project on Poverty and Well-Being

Countries:

Sponsors:

  • 3ie-International Initiative for Impact Evaluation

Collaborators:

  • Harvard University

End Date:

  • Ongoing

Evaluation of a Rural Microfinance Project on Poverty and Well-Being

Financial inclusion is an increasingly popular tool on the fight against poverty, although its effectiveness remains contested. By exploiting a randomized series of banking branch expansions, we seek rigorous evidence of the impact of access to financial services on agricultural technology adoption, income, consumption, health, and social networks in Thanjavur, India.

The current Indian debate on microfinance's effectiveness has become heavily politicized. Through this project, we hope to provide rigorous evidence to this debate and contribute to future policy development.

Last updated on June 3, 2020