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Impact through Research

Research Areas Photo
Reimagining Financial Access
Innovation requires attention to the psychology and broad needs of low-income families to create the next generation of financial solutions.
Mechanisms Matter
Details of savings, credit and insurance products can determine their success and failure—sometimes in surprising ways.
Measuring Impact
Evidence on how financial access affects households. The strengths and limitations of randomized control trials.
Investment and Regulation
Innovation requires understanding tradeoffs in commercialization, price-setting, prudential regulation and efforts to protect the poor.
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What's New

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  • New Challenges in Microfinance: 7th Annual Conference in Leadership & Ethics
    Location: NYU Stern School of Business 7 East 12th Street New York, NY 10003-4475
    Date: March 5, 2010

    New Challenges in Microfinance: 7th Annual Conference in Leadership & Ethics

    The seventh annual conference organized by the Citi Leadership & Ethics Program and NYU Stern’s Business and Society Program Area - with generous support from the Citi Foundation - will bring together academics, practitioners, and selected students to explore market-based solutions to some of the world's most intractable social problems.  This year's Distinguished Citi Fellow in Leadership and Ethics, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women's World Banking, will keynote the 2010 conference, sharing her insights on microfinance and the role of women entrepreneurs in improving emerging economies.

    The conference will take place on Friday, March 5, 2010 at NYU Stern School of Business from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

    Speakers include:
    * Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO, Women's World Banking
    * Nejira Nalic, Executive Director, Mi Bospo in Bosnia
    * Bob Annibale, Global Director of Microfinance, Citi
    * Jonathan Morduch, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, NYU
    NOTE:  Registration to this conference will automatically include registration to a talk by Muhammad Yunus, Founder, Grameen Bank, sponsored by the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship and Financial Access Initiative

    Space is limited! To make your luncheon reservation and reserve your conference ticket, kindly RSVP before February 27, 2010.  Please register here.

    You can view the full agenda here.

    The conference is free and includes breakfast and lunch.

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Blog

March 1, 2010
First insights from Mongolian microfinance impact study

The blog over at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently featured a post by Senior Economist Ralph De Haas, who describes a randomized evaluation of microfinance in Mongolia that recently completed fieldwork.  Although analysis is ongoing, with full results expected in July o

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February 23, 2010
Commentary
Could you actively manage five financial accounts?

In this excellent post, Kate McKee highlights the intensive financial life of Hiram, a smart Kenyan entrepreneur with a thriving car rental business.  Because one single institution cannot meet all his financial needs, Hiram has to patch together services from five differ

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February 19, 2010
Commentary
Trends in microfinance investing

Funds investing in MFIs, commonly known as microfinance investment vehicles or MIVs, have grown dramatically in both number and size over the past several years. CGAP and Symbiotics report that there were 103 MIVs active in 2008, up from only 23 in 2000, and despite constraints imposed by the financial crisis their total assets grew by 31% in 2008.

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Background

The Financial Access Initiative (FAI) is a consortium of researchers at NYU, Yale, Harvard and IPA focused on finding answers to how financial sectors can better meet the needs of poor households. 

Financial access holds the promise to help low-income individuals in developing countries manage their economic lives and build wealth. The Initiative aims to provide rigorous research on the impacts of financial access and on innovative ways to improve access.

The Initiative was launched with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and American International Group, Inc. to the NYU Wagner Graduate School. Research by FAI researchers is also supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation, The World Bank, CGAP, and other organizations.