Publication database

This document provides the full version of the Business Innovation Facility pilot which provided technical assistance to inclusive businesses in Bangladesh, India, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia. It discusses business model focus, target audience, progress and common constraints of the 33 inclusive businesses that had received support during the first two years of the pilot.

Research paper #35 provides a selective overview of the current state of research on the impact of microinsurance. Its key purpose is to explore the role played by insurance in developing countries. In reviewing the most recent literature about the impact of microinsurance in developing countries, special attention is given to the issue of statistical identification of the impact, and to the need of highlighting the channels through which microinsurance affects the outcomes. Although the effects of microinsurance are heterogeneous across the studies reviewed, this review shows that micro-insurance seems to achieve markedly positive results under specific provisions.

Research Paper #34 presents results from a randomized control trial in rural China designed to understand whether a change in the timing of the payment of a premium for swine insurance helps overcoming barriers to insurance demand and whether insurance allows farmers to increase investment in activities that expose them to more risk. Findings show that insurance take-up is three times higher among those who were given the option to pay at the end of the insured period; that insurance has a positive impact on investment; and that encouraging insurance purchases can have a positive long run effect on the income and welfare or rural households.

Child labour is a common consequence of economic shocks in developing countries. Research Paper #32 explores how reducing vulnerability through insurance impacts child labour and schooling. Using the case of a health and accident insurance scheme by a Pakistani microfinance institution, the study finds that increased insurance coverage results in lower incidence of child labour and reduced earnings from child labour. The effect is largely attributed to an ex-ante feeling of protection as opposed to a shock-mitigation effect.

Despite the fact that national health insurance has been available in Ghana since 2003, the coverage is far from universal. Research Paper #23 evaluates a consumer education intervention for microfinance clients by Freedom from Hunger and Sinapi Aba Trust designed to increase awareness, knowledge and eventually take-up rates of the National Health Insurance Scheme. Results suggest that the lack of knowledge may not the most important barrier to enrolment: while health insurance education appeared to increase knowledge of health insurance among those who received it, there were no significant differences in enrolment rates between the treatment groups and control group. Rather, it appears that convenience of registration and timing of premium payments were more common challenges faced by these individuals. 

Can insurance transfer risk in a way that reduces the need for households to rely on costly coping strategies that undermine their future productivity? That´s the central question that Research Paper #31 aims to answer based on evidence from an index-based drought insurance product available to pastoralists in northern Kenya. Results show that insured households are on average 22-36 percentage points less likely to anticipate drawing down assets and 27-36 percentage points less likely to anticipate reducing meals than their uninsured counterpart. Insurance not only smooths consumption but also improves the ability of recovering after a drought.

This guide provides an overview of the business case for measuring socio-economic impact; an introduction into the terminology and basic theory used in this space for a business audience; and a list existing tools for business needs. It aims to accelerate business efforts to measure and manage socio-economic impact and to help companies to navigate the complex landscape of socio-economic impact measurement.

Research Paper #30 presents the results of a randomized control trial that evaluated the impact of CARE Foundation´s out-patient insurance cards. The insurance product encouraged more frequent visits to community health workers, leading to earlier identification of illnesses and more timely referrals to a doctor or hospital. Since patients were treated at an earlier stage, they spent fewer days in hospital and costs were lower. In the project, community health workers were trained and deployed in villages to offer preventive care consultations, make referrals to a doctor when needed, and sell outpatient health insurance. 

This case study looks at Coletivo Retail, an eight-week training programme to empower unemployed youth living in low-income communities, such as favelas, and to help them find new economic opportunities, set up by Coca-Cola in Brazil to strengthen its business by advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates. The programme is present across 126 sites in Brazil and Coca-Cola’s sales in Coletivo communities grow 9.5% more per year on average, as a result of increased small retailer productivity and higher levels of economic prosperity in Coletivo communities.

This paper highlights a pilot project that explores the feasibility of using mobile technology to collect data that indicates the poverty level of clients. The pilot tested the effects of two variables, 'phone airtime bonuses' and 'advance personal outreach', on response rates across three levels of company-client relationships.