Publication database

This white paper seeks to articulate the impacts of connectivity and propose a framework of financial, social and economic key performance indicators for the last-mile connectivity (LMC) sector, in order to ultimately drive investments in the sector. The purpose of the framework is to illuminate impact pathways that link investments in LMC enterprises to positive development outcomes.

Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea (AMK) participated in the ILO Microfinance for Decent Work (MF4DW) action research from 2008-2012. As part of this global experimental research, AMK introduced a financial education programme in two rural branches. The programme aimed to address challenges that clients faced in regard to the risk management strategies they use and their levels of indebtedness. The impact of the financial education programme on clients’ financial attitude and behaviour, risk management strategies, asset building, over-indebtedness and multiple borrowing, and vulnerability, was measured employing a difference-in-difference methodology. The econometric analysis is based on a balanced three-wave panel data set with target and control groups. It shows that AMK’s financial education programme had the strongest impact on the repayment behaviour of clients with a significant reduction of 3.4 per cent in late repayments. The innovation also had significant and positive impact on asset building outcome variables such as insurance take-up with a 10 per cent increase. The programme positively influenced financial attitude as shown by a significant decrease in client belief that it is impossible to save, clients’ association of savings and security increasing by 1 per cent as well as changing attitudes towards borrowing. However, the analysis also shows insignificant and/or unexpected results for other outcome variables, which may be due to some issues with the experimental design of the research and the survey instrument. It is therefore possible that the innovation may have had a stronger impact than actually measured and reported in this document.

Index-based insurance is an innovative financial service that can help smallholder farmers manage some of the risks related to weather conditions. Considering the lessons and insights gathered from index insurance and financial education projects, as well as from the field of behavioural economics, the Global Action Network to advance agriculture insurance (GAN), coordinated by the International Labour Organisation’s Impact Insurance Facility and supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has worked to put together guidelines for index insurance education to support the industry to deal with this task.

In the past decade, some insurance associations have expanded beyond their traditional core functions to develop insurance consumer education (ICE) programmes. While the motivations for doing so are diverse, ICE programs ultimately aim to improve the perception, and spread the culture, of insurance.

Microinsurance Paper #34 discusses the different approaches available to insurance associations in Latin America to effectively deliver ICE. Emphasis is placed on a business model for associations, while providing key general lessons and links to useful reference material. The discussion is based on a review of the experiences of insurance associations in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. 

In the last decade, some insurance associations (IAs) have expanded beyond their traditional core functions to develop insurance consumer education (ICE) programmes. Based on a review of the experiences of IAs in five countries, namely Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mexico and South Africa, Microinsurance Paper #31 discusses the steps that should be taken during the preparation of an ICE. These include assigning responsibility internally, defining funding mechanisms, setting clear goals, defining the programme target and identifying partnership opportunities. It goes on to summarize key lessons for IAs on content, delivery and monitoring and evaluation.

This report summarises practical lessons learned from IFC's inclusive business clients including 21 profiles from agribusiness, health, housing, ICT, retail and utilities. It illustrates lessons for different parts of the value chain – including procurement, product development, distribution and retail, and marketing and sales.

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. 

As the microinsurance industry grows there is an increasing need to scale up insurance education efforts and educate a wider audience. Audio-visual media is an attractive dissemination channel to achieve this because it is strongly anchored in the lifestyle of low-income people in developing countries. Microinsurance Paper #21 explores the stages of such campaigns and presents lessons learnt.

Research Paper #16 assesses the impact of educational intervention on knowledge, attitude and willingness-to-pay for health insurance using occupational solidarity. It also explores the views of relevant actors on occupational solidarity-based health insurance. Based on multiple regression analysis and experimental design, the combined results of the experiments indicate that the educational intervention has improved the knowledge and willingness to pay for health insurance among informal sector workers in Bangladesh.

In Senegal mutual health organizations (MHOs) have been present in the greater region of Thies for years. Despite their efforts and the benefits they bring to low-income population, in some areas, take up rates remain low. The authors of Research Paper #14 ran an insurance literacy module, communicating the benefits of health microinsurance and explaining MHOs work, to a randomly selected sample of households in the city of Thies. The effects of the training, and three vouchers offering refunds and additional education were evaluated using a randomized control trial. The authors find that the insurance literacy module had no impact on the demand for health microinsurance, but that their marketing intervention had a significant effect on the take up decisions of households.