Microenterprises

Identifying high-growth microentrepreneurs in low-income countries remains a challenge due to a scarcity of verifiable information.

Microfinance has been shown to have limited average impacts on incomes and profits in developing countries.

How can unconditional cash transfers (UCT) be leveraged to boost household incomes beyond addressing short-term food insecurity in a prolonged humanitarian crisis setting?

Can informal institutions facilitate enterprise growth through resolving business disputes in the contexts where formal mechanisms are near-complete failure?

In this pilot project, we demonstrate the exciting potential of online freelancing for improving the incomes of poor youth in rural Bangladesh.

We conduct a field experiment offering graduated microcredit clients the opportunity to finance a business asset worth four times their previous borrowing limit. We implement this using a hire-purchase contract; our control group is offered a zero-interest loan.