Publication database

This report assesses the extent to which inclusive business models promote women's economic empowerment in Asia and Latin America. It looks at Inclusive businesses that involve women in their value chain and provide specific services that help low-income women.

A guide for early-stage global health innovators on business models and partnership approaches to scale-up. With a focus on scaling medical products and technologies, but the clarity on business model options and decision-making tools, this report is useful for all sectors.

This report tackles the issue of how inclusive business models move private sector engagement in the SDGs beyond philanthropic or CSR efforts but ingrain them in the core operations of a business. It identifies five drivers of financial value that can push companies to look for alignment with the SDGs. The report ends with a list of 10 critical success factors to keep in mind when designing and implementing an inclusive business.

This compendium of case studies featuring Public-Private Partnerships, this is a first attempt by the UNECE to generate interest in the SDGs through real projects that made a difference in their respective communities.

This paper provides a quantitative and qualitative presentation of USAID’s public-private partnerships and business sector participation in those PPPs. The analysis offered here is based on USAID’s PPP data set covering 2001-2014 and interviews with executives of 17 U.S. corporations that have engaged in PPPs with USAID.

This publication presents five in-depth case studies of inclusive businesses and identifies the common strategies these companies are employing to do business with people living at the base of the pyramid. Ranging in geographies and sectors (agriculture, education, financial services, and healthcare), each company has a unique path but their shared strategies provides insights that can spark innovation among future business entrepreneurs. The case studies are based on interviews with the companies’ founders, chief executive, and senior management.

This report provides insights on the impact enterprise landscape in East Africa. The report identifies three different categories of impact enterprises: Access enterprises provide critical products and services among the low income and underserved population. Ability enterprises increase their capacity to earn higher incomes through skilling or by engaging with them as partners. Lastly, Knowledge enterprises build awareness and markets, and encourage behaviour change.

Research Paper #24 evaluates the impact of introducing a new health insurance product in rural Kenya. Health insurance was found to reduce net health expenditure and informal borrowing for medical costs, and to increase non-food and overall consumption. However, the study observed no significant differences in health outcomes between the control and treatment groups.
Demand for the product proved sensitive to price discounts, but not to training in financial and risk literacy. The main determinants of renewal were positive or negative experiences, rather than hospital use or price.

The report is about a multidonor strategic thematic fund established by Opportunities for the Majority which is used for the funding of diverse crucial BoP business models and their scaling-up. In this context four case studies are presented showing examples of the funds work: "VisionSpring", a social enterprise is dedicated to providing affordable eyeglasses to low-income people, the multistage programme "Corporate Leaders Program which includes the development of a creative platform, the housing programme "Patrimonio Hoy" of the Mexico-based cement manufacturer CEMEX and "The 1st BASE Forum for the Development of the Base of the Pyramid in Latin America and the Caribbean".

Research Paper #22 analyses free-riding and coordination problems in health microinsurance in Tanzania. Microinsurance games played with microcredit clients confirm that less risk averse clients are tempted to free-ride and forgo individual insurance and demonstrate limited coordination failures under individual insurance. Group insurance increases demand in the games. These findings provide a potential solution for low uptake of microinsurance.