The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation
Published By: BREAD on eSS | Published Date: June, 10 , 2010Microcredit has spread extremely rapidly since its beginnings in the late 1970s, but
whether and how much it helps the poor is the subject of intense debate.This paper reports
on the first randomized evaluation of the impact of introducing microcredit in a new market.
Half of 104 slums in Hyderabad, India were randomly selected for opening of an MFI branch
while the remainder were not. They show that the intervention increased total MFI borrowing,
and study the effects on the creation and the profitability of small businesses, investment,
and consumption. [BREAD Working Paper No. 278] URL: [http://ipl.econ.duke.edu/bread/papers/working/278.pdf]
Author(s): Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Rachel Glennerster, Cynthia Kinnan | Posted on: Mar 10, 2011 | Views(1135) | Download (287)