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Featured research:
The Impacts of Saving
Is saving today the key to climbing out of poverty tomorrow?
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Featured research:
How can the poor afford microfinance?
Is microfinance a powerful tool to help the very poor, or does it do more harm than good for the poorest of the poor?
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Featured research:
Impact of credit
Examining the challenges researchers face in measuring the impact of microcredit.
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Featured research:
Psychology and Economics: what it means for microfinance
Revealing how the poor manage their money.
What's New
FAI Managing Director Jonathan Morduch speaks at this conference designed to look at the potential of microfinance institutions and microfinance investment vehicles to generate profits while ending poverty.
FAI Director Dean Karlan speaks on financial education at the BANSEFI conferene in Mexico City, "Towards Greater Financial Inclusion in Latin America: Results and Challenges".
FAI Directors Jonathan Morduch and Dean Karlan will give plenary presentations at this inaugrual conference dedicated to expanding the delivery and access of financial services to poor people.
FAI Managing Director Jonathan Morduch was featured on Business Week TV, discussing the challenges and opportunities of expanding financial access to the 40 million unbanked and under-banked residents of the United States.
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 core funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 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.
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Research Questions
- How can the poor generate sufficient returns to pay for loans? How does this differ by region and/or population?
- Do clients understand the terms of the contract?
- What are the drivers of demand?
- How does the demand for savings products and loan products vary by income?
- How great is the impact of financial services? What mixes of products deliver the greatest impacts?
- What is the impact of savings products on incomes, stability, and investment?
Research Highlight
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