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10 Takeaways from the World Bank Forum on Microcredit’s (lack of) Social Impact
"For a researcher working on microcredit, this is kind of a defining moment." That’s how Abhijit Banerjee described the six recent studies on microcredit’s social impact (or lack thereof). NextBillion has compiled 10 takeaways (and 11 tweets) from the research and the sector’s reaction to it, based on the World Bank event.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Calling All Failures: Failing is a Big Part of Social Entrepreneurship. F*ckUp Nights Wants You to Talk About It
Though most new companies shut down, entrepreneurs rarely talk about their failures. This is counterproductive, especially in challenging sectors like social enterprise. That’s why F*ckUp Nights is building a movement to discuss and research business failure. This exclusive series with NextBillion will feature some of their top failure stories from would-be social entrepreneurs. And if your social business has failed, you’re welcome to add your story.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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Financial Inclusion Trends and Innovators Already Lighting Up 2015
What will 2015 hold for financial inclusion innovations? Accion Venture Lab highlights some current groundbreaking trends, and several seed stage companies leading the charge.
- Categories
- Technology
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The Most Popular Posts of 2015: Which One Most Influenced You?
For the fourth year in a row, we're launching our Most Influential Post of the Year Contest – think of it as a listicle that you control. Below are the 12 most viewed articles on NB by month. Please read or re-read them and then vote for your favorite(s).
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- Agriculture, Education, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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NextBillion’s Most Popular and Most Shared Posts in the 4th Quarter of 2015
Our most-viewed and most-shared blog posts from the months of October, November and December explored the history and future of impact assessment, a randomized control trial around financial inclusion in Afghanistan and technology solutions for mitigating the youth jobs shortage.
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- Education, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing
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Weekly Roundup: Will Narayana Health’s IPO Hearten Investors and Patients Alike?
The collective ears of the healthcare world pricked up this week on the news that Narayana Hrudayalaya is going public. Narayana has combined economies of scale and specialization to turn a profit while charging an average of only $2,000 for open-heart surgery. So it might be fair to ponder: Does an IPO mean the model so many have held up so high will stop working?
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- Health Care, Impact Assessment
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Measuring Environmental Performance in Microfinance
What responsibility does the microfinance industry have in reaching each of the Sustainable Development Goals? Of the 1,100 microfinance institutions reporting social performance information to MIX in 2014, 40 percent reported that they raised clients’ awareness of environment impacts. Additionally, 34 percent claimed to have some form of environmental risk management in place and 19 percent said they offer environmentally-friendly credit products. But the microfinance sector still lacks a set of established metrics to track their green performance management.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment
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NexThought Monday: Pay for Success … With an Important Twist
Did you ever wonder how to adapt the pay-for-success model to market-based social enterprises and inclusive businesses? How to catalyze and secure private investments that allow scaling? And how to make sure that each party involved has an incentive to outperform on impact? Roots of Impact believes they've found an answer to these questions.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
