
	Home About FAI Vision Team Directors Staff Associates Interns Advisors Partners Supporters Contact FAI Research Overview Research Areas Projects Publications By Type Papers Framing Notes Briefs Books By Focus Policy & Practice Research Methodology Blog Newsroom In the News Press Kit Press Releases Events Video Get Involved

Research Questions

What is the best way of replicating the Saving for Change program?
How does approval for a microloan impact micro-entrepreneurs’ households and businesses?
What interest rate level maximizes profitability, and therefore sustainability, for MFIs?
What are the main constraints for farmers in making potentially profitable investments?
Are text message reminders an effective way to increase savings deposits and to help people reach their stated savings goals?
What is the impact of formal savings accounts on savings, productive investment and health expenditures among small-scale entrepreneurs?
What is the impact of crop price insurance on farmers’ investment decisions?
Do group liability loans work better (or worse) than individual liability loans due to monitoring and/or enforcement or peer selection issues?
How important is adverse selection in the insurance market in developing countries?
Which combination of interventions results in the lowest level of future household indebtedness and helps households shift from borrowing to saving habits?
What is the combined impact of providing health care products (mosquito nets, etc.) and health education?
What types of messages are most effective at motivating people to follow through on their stated desires to save?
What mechanisms work best to encourage repayment of micro loans?
Can micro health insurers leverage their institutional position and aggregate, otherwise limited, financial resources to fix quality deficiencies in the healthcare available to poor households?
What is the impact of providing deposit collection service on savings levels?
How do the commitment device, pure saving, and matching grant components of a micro-savings program compare in lowering primary school dropout rates?
Are lockboxes an effective way to increasing savings rates and satisfaction with savings?
What is the impact of debt-pay off on saving behaviors?
Does labeling an account lead to an overall increase in savings?
To what extent does a lower interest rate attract new borrowers into the microcredit industry rather than merely encouraging clients to switch from alternative lenders?
For firms for which the marginal return is high, do these significant unexploited profit opportunities reflect substantial credit constraints at the firm level, or are they reflective of behavioral or other biases?
Can consulting and business support services help micro and small enterprises (MSEs) grow?
Does the SEED commitment savings product increase savings among people who expressed a desire to save but had a difficult time doing so due to lack of self-control?
What is the impact of different implementation strategies on the Saving for Change program?
How can insurance affect the quality of care available to poor households?
How do changes in interest rates impact the demand for microloans?
Does a lack of capital prevent farmers from making potentially profitable investments?
Do the self-commitment and reminder features of the savings product increase formal savings among remittance receivers?
What types of relationships ensure the best repayment rates on loans?
Can professional associations help members take up formal savings accounts?
Do savings constraints prevent microentreprenuers from expanding the size of their businesses?
Can the provision of specialized saving devices earmarked for health improve the welfare of households?
What is the indirect impact of someone having a box in terms of his or her behavior for things other than money?
Do clients who choose to open a SEED commitment savings account share certain characteristics?
Does access to health insurance increase risk-taking behavior?
How does information on marketing and distribution increase returns to farmers?
What is the rate of return for small rural retail businesses, and how do the estimated rates of return vary across firms?
Which savings account features are most effective in helping clients complete their savings commitments?
How does business training impact the business and household outcomes of microcredit clients?
What is the direct impact of having a box in how someone deals with his or her money?
Does access to microcredit have a significant impact on household expenditures and activities?
How do the social connections of an individual, family, or social group relate to participation in village microfinance?
How is rainfall insurance understood and received among farmers in Northern Ghana?
What is the best way to market loans to cover health care costs?
Is group liability for microcredit better than individual liability when it comes to repayment rates, client retention, loan size, and client outreach?
Is a student savings program an effective and efficient way to decrease student dropout rates?
Can focusing on money erode traditional values?
Does financial training alone help vendors change behavior and reduce high-interest debt?
Do “trustworthy” microcredit clients have a lower default rate than those who are untrustworthy?
Do marketing messages affect the way that health care loans are used?
How does the presence of competition affect loan take-up at different interest rates?
Can people be encouraged to save if their saving needs are more visualized?
What is the impact of providing health education on microfinance and health indicators?
What strategies are being used to educate clients about insurance and risk management?
What are the joint and independent impacts of financial literacy and business training on microfinance clients and their communities?
Are lockboxes effective in increasing savings rates and satisfaction with savings?
How does labeling a savings account impact the consumption of goods and services relating to this label?
How can lenders design an optimal, client referral program?
What interest rate level maximizes profitability and sustainability for MFIs?
Do health education programs improve health outcomes of microfinance clients?
How do estimated rates of return vary with experience, various personality characteristics, or measures of cognitive ability?
Does competition bring out the best in MFIs and do clients benefit?
How does competition affect the balance between profitability and social responsiblities of MFIs?
What are the economic impacts of microcredit, including growth of business and income levels?
What are the mechanisms through which social links influence repayment behavior?
What is the impact of providing deposit collection service on clients’ borrowing patterns?
Does debt pay-off alone help vendors stay out of debt?
How can institutions develop new and improve existing insurance education programs?
How much do community members value their relationships to other community members?
Can the requirements of group liability for microcredit be relaxed to the point which optimizes its impact?
To what extent can psychological features of a promotional campaign affect take-up of a loan product?
Does the combination of financial training and debt pay-off reduce indebtedness more than one of these interventions alone?
Is combining lockboxes with reminders an even more effective way to increasing savings rates and satisfaction with savings?
Is there evidence of moral hazard and adverse selection in consumer credit markets?
Does smoothing the payment of school fees make primary school more affordable?
Does access to health insurance improve the health status of its beneficiaries?
Can financial incentives help people change their health behaviors?
What is the impact of the removal of the cosignatory requirement on household dynamics and bargaining?
Is an automated text message reminder system cost effective for the banks?
How sensitive are micro-savers to interest rates?
What are the social impacts of microcredit, including health status and household decision-making?
Will we see a Hawthorne Effect in this context?
What is the impact of microcredit on individuals and their communities?
Will Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) participants be able to “graduate” to traditional microfinance services?
What is the impact of grant funding and enterprise development on social and economic outcomes including: income, assets, school attendance of children, health and food security?
How does inclusion of the husband affect the household in terms of income and decision-making?
Do these marginally-creditworthy borrowers suffer from binding liquidity constraints such that receiving a loan from our partner lender increases household welfare?
What role does agricultural credit play in increasing horticultural produce for export?
What is the demand for inclusion of husbands in female solidarity lending groups?
What is the impact of debt pay-off on saving behaviors?
Is expanding access to consumer credit profitable for our partner lender?
How can microfinance institutions increase access to credit among underserved populations while still maintaining low costs?
Does providing labels for savings accounts entice both new customers to open accounts and existing customers to make more frequent or larger deposits?
What is the impact of automated test message loan repayment reminders on client repayment and default rates and on the banks’ bottom line?
Do lower rates improve loan repayment rates?
Do financial literacy classes or enrollment in a commitment savings program alone help market vendors reduce their moneylender debts? Or is external financial assistance necessary?
Does financial literacy training encourage customers to take advantage of the labeled savings account product or make different consumption decisions?
Is a cosignatory requirement a barrier to accessing credit for women?
Does opening a SEED commitment savings account increase the clients’ total financial savings?
Does access to microcredit have a significant impact on household expenditures and welfare?
Do individual-liability borrowers have asymmetric information on the borrowing “type” of fellow borrowers, and can these borrowers influence the repayment behavior of their fellow borrowers?
What are the rates of returns of investments undertaken with microfinance loans?
How do changes in the interest rate affect the type of clients that microfinance institutions (MFIs) attract?
Are group liability loans better than individual liability loans when it comes to repayment rates, client retention, loan size, and client outreach?
Are cross-village replicated groups as efficient as within-village replicated groups in the Saving for Change program?
Are negative financial incentives an effective aid to quit smoking?
What is the marginal return to an incremental increase in inventory for small retail firms?
Do microclients with “planning capability” have a lower default rate than those without planning capability?
How do changes in the interest rate affect the type of clients that MFIs attract?
What is the impact of being told that savings is good by wealthy foreigners?
Are concerns about rainfall preventing farmers from making potentially profitable investments?
Does formal insurance crowd out informal insurance arrangements?
Is it cost-effective for the lending organization to add business training sessions to microcredit lending group meetings?
Is it cost effective for the lending organization to add business training sessions to microcredit lending group meetings?
Do the Village Savings and Loan Associations in Ghana reach the poorest of the poor?
How can credit scoring and interest rates be used to optimize MFI profitability through client selection?
How price sensitive are the microfinance clients to hospitalization insurance?