http://www.ifmr.ac.in/cmf http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/images/logo.gif http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf Visit http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf The mission of the Centre is to improve the lives of the poor by maximizing both the access to financial services and its impact through rigorous research, training, and strategy building for MFIs. en-us Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:38:45 PST http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/courses_workshops.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Thu, 19 June 2008 10:01:23 PST http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/map/ karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Tue, 17 June 2008 10:01:23 PST Few microfinance-funded businesses grow beyond subsistence entrepreneurship. This paper considers one possible explanation: that the structure of existing microfinance contracts may discourage risky but high-expected return investments. To explore this possibility, I develop a theory that unifies models of investment choice, informal insurance, and formal financial contracts. I then test the predictions of this theory using a series of experiments with clients of a large microfinance institution in India. The experiments confirm the theoretical predictions that joint liability creates two inefficiencies. First, borrowers free-ride on their partners, making risky investments without compensating partners for this risk. Second, the addition of peer-monitoring overcompensates, leading to sharp reductions in risk-taking and profitability. However, the theoretical prediction that group lending will crowd out informal insurance is not borne out by experimental evidence. While observed levels of informal insurance fall well short of the constrained Pareto frontier under both individual and joint liability, joint liability increases observed insurance transfers. Equity-like financing, in which partners share both the benefits and risks of more profitable projects, overcomes both of these inefficiencies and merits further testing in the field. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/publications/wp/2008/24_Fischer-contractstructure_risk%20sharing_investment%20choice.pdf karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Tue, 10 June 2008 10:01:23 PST The microfinance sector in India has experienced explosive growth over the past five years. Unfortunately, as the last nationwide comprehensive survey of access to fi nance was conducted in 2001 and very few MFIs report client numbers on a district or even state level, little is known about the geographic distribution of microfi nance services throughout the country beyond the most obvious characteristics. In an attempt to address this lacuna, the CMF systematically collected district-wise data on number of active borrowers and loans outstanding for several of India’s largest MFIs over the last three years as part of its Map of Microfinance project sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development. In this note, we analyze the data collected as a part of this exercise to paint a picture of the geographic distribution of microfinance services in India and to describe geographic trends in the growth of microfi nance services across the country over the past year. Th e full version of the Map of Microfi nance can be found online at http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/map. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/focus_notes/3-MoM.pdf karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Tue, 10 June 2008 10:01:23 PST As part of its seminar series ,CMF is organising, "Aspects of the economic decision-making of the poor peasant household" presented by Mr.Ajay Tankha, Development Consultant. Ajay Tankha will review results from a 1972 paper he co-authored with Ashwani Saith, (currently Professor at Institute of Social Studies, The Hague and the London School of Economics) in which they investigated the logic underlying the economic decision-making of the poor peasant (and non-peasant) category of households in a village in Aligarh district, U. P. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/news_june0608.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Fri, 6 June 2008 10:01:23 PST As part of its seminar series ,CMF is organising, "Does Meeting Repay? Early Repayment and Default in Microfinance: Evidence from India" by Anup Roy and Emmerich Davies. Standard joint liability group (JLGs) contracts in microfinance specify that group members must meet and repay instalments of their loan every week. Practitioners justify frequent meetings by claiming that they maintain microfinance's high collection and repayment rates as well as inoculating clients with financial discipline and group cohesion. However, this contradicts conventional economic theory - where the frequency of meetings should have no impact on repayment and collection - as well as imposing high transaction costs on both microfinance institutions (MFIs) and clients. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/news_may1208.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Mon, 12 May 2008 10:01:23 PST The main objective of the course is to become familiar with as many different aspects of the theoretical aspects of microfinance as possible. Since the course will involve academics and practitioners, the course will serve as a meeting point for both groups to dialogue. In this respect, we want to question the academic research and see how relevant it is to the practical aspects of micro finance. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/courses_workshops/economics_of_microfinance2008.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:01:23 PST CMF is looking for Program head in Insurance and innovative financial products and Knowledge management associate http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/openings.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:01:23 PST Despite recent rapid growth of the microfinance sector in India, there still exists a large transparency deficit due to ad hoc accounting and reporting procedures by MFIs and the regulatory environment that permits practices. If left unchanged, the current situation could pose real risks to the sector’s health. However, at the same time, excessive regulatory requirements has the risk of stunting sector growth and overburdening the microfinance regulator with undue supervisory requirements. This paper attempts to identify areas where regulatory interventions most narrow the transparency gap at least administrative cost to the MFIs while supervisory cost to the regulator is minimized. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/publications/wp/2008/23_radcliffe-indias_mfi_transparency_gap.pdf karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:01:23 PST Results from a CMF's field experiment shows that clients with a weekly or monthly repayment schedule did not show any difference in the likelihood of delinquency or default. This suggests that among microfinance clients who are willing to borrow at either weekly or monthly repayment sched­ules, a more flexible schedule can significantly lower transaction costs without increasing client default. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/uploads/1.VWS.pdf karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:01:23 PST As part of its seminar series ,CMF is organising, "Incentive Effects of Bank-Correspondent Models" by Prof. Adel Varghese.Learning from the experiences of South Africa and Brazil, the Reserve Bank of India has proposed that banks hire correspondents (or local agents) to disburse credit. This seminar serves to analytically evaluate two of the proposed functions of correspondents: that of screeners and monitors. In the adverse selection model, we show that without correspondents banks will choose to not provide loans to some borrowers even if they have socially profitable projects. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/news_apr0908.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:01:23 PST As part of its seminar series ,CMF is organising, "Ramanagaram Financial Diaries: Loan Repayments and Cash Patterns of the Urban Slums" by Dr. Rajalaxmi Kamath from IIM, Bangalore.The paper is a preliminary analysis of a three month pilot study tracking the daily cash inflows and outflows of twenty households in two urban slums of Ramanagaram, indebted to micro-credit organizations.Some of the main results from the analysis include indebebtedness to multiple MFI's, large size of household budget that goes towards servicing debt,and recycling of debt. All this points towards some pressing issues that need to be addressed in the fast-track growth of the microfinance sector in urban India. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/news_apr0808.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:01:23 PST As part of its seminar series ,CMF is organising, "Gender, Efficiency, Poverty Reduction and Empowerment: Reflections from an Agriculture and Credit Programme in Tamil Nadu, India" presented by Ranjani K. Murthy, Josephine Sagayam, Dr. Rengalakshmi and Dr. Sudha Nair http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/news_mar2608.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:01:23 PST CMF, in collaboration with the other research centres at IFMR, offers a unique internship opportunity to students from across the world pursuing careers in microfinance or development. Students selected for the TIP/FD first undergo a rigorous two-week training program conducted by leading researchers, CMF Research Associates as well as practitioners from the government, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and NGOs. The training will be followed by an eight-week internship based at a project site in India. The program ends with a conference bringing together practitioners, academics, and students for project presentations. The program begins in June 02 2008. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/internship.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:00:00 PST This meeting, organized by CMF in collaboration with ACCESS Development Services and the Ford Foundation, is among the first initiatives to bring together individual researchers based at different universities and research institutions. The objective of the meeting is to understand various academic efforts by researchers in India, encourage more research in the field of microfinance, and to provide a common platform to share knowledge and ideas. The meeting will be held in Delhi on March 28, 2008. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/news_feb1408.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:30:00 PST CMF will be co-organising a meeting with Access Development Services on Financial Inclusion on 17 April 2008. While numerous policies and innovative delivery channels have been proposed to increase access to financial services, designing effective policy interventions also remains a challenge due to lack of systematic information and rigorous evidence in this area. This meet seeks to look closely at one large-scale measure to improve access to finance in India: the 100% financial inclusion drive promulgated by the RBI in 2005. Other existing channels and frameworks for providing access to finance will also be considered. This meeting is an opportunity for policymakers, practitioners and researchers to reassess the objectives for financial inclusion, given what we already know about financial behavior of poor people and operational challenges in implementing financial inclusion.The venue of the meeting will be announced soon. http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/news_feb1508.html karthikeyan.k@ifmr.ac.in(Karthikeyan) Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:45:00 PST