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NextThought: Quick Reflections from Harvard’s Social Enterprise Conference
The students of Harvard met and exceeded expectations at their annual Social Enterprise Conference through a healthy mix of panel discussions, hands-on workshops and a student-driven entrepreneurial spirit that was palpable in every hallway.
- Categories
- Finance, Social Enterprise
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NextThought Monday: How Can I Pay My Loans If I Can’t Afford an Onion?
Sure, one might argue that growing debts and high interest rates have lead to suicides in India and rising default rates. Perhaps you may even conclude that greed finally got the better of the MFIs. But when I visited Andhra Pradesh and almost couldn’t afford a watermelon, I gained a whole new perspective on the MFI crisis.
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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What Are Social-Impact Bonds?
By DAVID LEONHARDT My column this week describes a new strategy for improving the performance of government programs. In short, private investors - typically foundations - pay the costs of a new program in its early years, and the government later repays the investors,...
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- impact bonds
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NextThought (Tuesday): Meeting Customers in the Middle and Other HBR Insights
This month’s Harvard Business Review ambitiously re-calibrates the dialogue on corporate social responsibility and the true meaning of shared value in rebuilding capitalism?s sullied reputation following the financial crisis. The HBR authors also implore established companies to "take a page from startups" by treating each emerging market as new.
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NextThought Monday: A Closer Look at the Numbers Behind Branchless Banking
While the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman breathlessly reports on the latest mobile banking advancement in India, can we really believe the hype? Mark Pickens, Microfinance Analyst with CGAP’s Technology Program, says based on his study of 18 branchless banking providers, in fact, we can.
- Categories
- Finance
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IFC Sharpens Focus on Affordable Housing, Housing Finance in India
The FINANCIAL -- IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is working with key stakeholders including government, regulatory bodies, private sector developers, and financiers to help make affordable housing available for low- and middle-income populations in India. "As part of this initiative, National Housing ...
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- housing
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Peddling Trash: Waste Management and Income Generation
Daily quantities are sold for daily needs in Nairobi’s ever-growing slums. Called the kidogo economy, Swahili for ’little’, laundry detergent, margarine and anything else manufacturers haven’t packaged in small boxes are divided and resold in tiny affordable sachets. In this context of severe urban poverty, micro-enterprise isn’t a buzz word. It’s a lifestyle. So it’s appropriate that a solid waste management program ...
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- waste
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