Publication database

Based on a review of more than ten case studies, Microinsurance Paper No. 27 identifies barriers to access and provides strategies to overcome them. More specifically, it takes a closer look at three business processes that enable access – enrolment, premium collection and renewal – and some related success factors. The goal is to provide concrete examples of how microinsurance schemes can improve clients’ access to products.

Insurers are using mobile phones to address two main challenges facing the microinsurance sector: increasing efficiency and reaching scale. Microinsurance Paper #26 is based on a review of literature and 13 insurance schemes that are using mobile phones in some capacity. The review reveals good practices and lessons for insurers to consider when implementing mobile-based microinsurance.

After two decades of experience, VimoSEWA had serious concerns about rising costs and slow growth in its voluntary microinsurance scheme. So it began an ambitious programme of changes to its structure, culture, products, operations, and monitoring and evaluation. Microinsurance paper #25 reflects the tensions faced by an organization trying to be socially focused and financially viable, and demonstrates how a resilient attitude can spur resurgence.

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.

Microcare originated out of a desire to find more effective ways to provide low-income communities with access to better quality healthcare. Pre-paid healthcare offered an opportunity to accumulate and channel resources so that poor people would get cashless access to healthcare services and service providers would benefit from better cash flows. Microinsurance Paper #24 examines the factors that contributed to the rise and fall of Microcare as a provider of low-cost health insurance. It seeks to draw lessons from Microcare’s experience that will further the development of a more successful business model for health microinsurance.

Many countries are pursuing government-sponsored health insurance as a primary path towards universal health coverage. In these same countries, there are private health microinsurance schemes sponsored by community-based organizations, commercial insurance companies, or other institutions. In Briefing Note #20, the Facility explores the hypothesis that government-sponsored initiatives should collaborate with private actors to accelerate the expansion of health insurance to informal workers and their families. 

Briefing Note #19 is intended to provide examples of good practice for developing promotional campaigns. Based on dozen case studies, it provides microinsurance providers and their distribution partners with a ten-step promotional planning model that helps ensure that communication strategies attract low-income households by conveying appropriately the value of microinsurance products.

Many countries are pursuing government-sponsored health insurance as a primary path towards universal health coverage. In these same countries, there are private health microinsurance schemes sponsored by community-based organizations, commercial insurance companies, or other institutions. In Microinsurance Paper #23, the Facility explores the hypothesis that government-sponsored initiatives should collaborate with private actors to accelerate the expansion of health insurance to informal workers and their families. 

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.

Mexican agriculture provides a large majority of the food consumed in the nation, but production is frequently constrained by the climate. A government agricultural insurance scheme was developed to offer protection for farmers. However, small-scale farmers struggled to access the scheme. Find out in Case Brief #4 about how an intermediary was able to extend access.