-
Making Change on a Mobile Handset: Four IPA studies explore how to make digital financial services more effective and affordable
There are 203 million registered mobile money accounts worldwide and 256 mobile money services in operation. But only 30 percent of registered accounts are used regularly. More rigorous research is needed to maximize the sector’s impact on the poor. To this end, Innovations for Poverty Action is implementing several studies on digital financial services, four of which are discussed in this post.
- Categories
- Education
-
Weekly Roundup – Is Microcredit Lost in ‘Transformation’?
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and Innovations for Poverty Action have published six randomized evaluations of microcredit across six different countries. They conclude that “short-term loans generally do not lead to increased income, investments in children’s schooling, or substantial gains in women’s empowerment for poor borrowers.” We discuss what this might mean for microcredit going forward.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- research
-
Many Universities ‘Failing to Address Public Health Needs of World’s Poor’
Most of the top-funded universities for medical science are not doing enough to address the needs of the world’s poorest people in terms of public health research, according to a new ranking.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
-
Johnson Gets €100m From Europe’s IMI to Accelerate Ebola Vaccine Development
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) through a consortium, which includes research institutions and non-government organizations, is set to receive around €100m ($115m) from Europe's Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) to speed up the development of its Ebola vaccine regimen.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
- Tags
- impact investing, research, vaccines
-
The Fight Against Malaria, At a Critical Juncture
Lindsey Graham stood at a podium at the festooned Knight Conference Center in Washington’s Newseum in early December and addressed a room full of public health advocates, researchers and politicians gathered for the 2014 Malaria Champions Breakfast.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- research
-
Spending on Medical Research Falls in U.S. While Growing Globally
Spending on medical research is waning in the United States, and this trend could have dire consequences for patients, physicians and the health care industry as a whole, a new analysis reveals.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
-
Research, Policy, and the Private Sector: Sir Richard Feachem on Malaria
Sir Richard Feachem led the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria from its inception in 2002 until 2007, just one part of his illustrious career in public health. We were fortunate to host Sir Richard in November for a Development Policy Centre seminar.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Tags
- public health, research
-
Who Is the ‘User’ In ‘User-Centred Design’?: When it comes to financial products, don’t discount the role of intermediaries
The obvious “users” of financial products are the end customers of the financial institution or mobile network operator. But as Graham Wright of Microsave notes, there is another very important “user” - the organization that will ultimately deliver the product.
- Categories
- Education