-
NexThought Monday – MNCs, the Grassroots and the Future of the BoP
Santa Clara State University’s Jim Koch says two big conferences in the last ten years have come to frame BoP market development efforts. What can we learn from what did – and what notably did not – transpire in the decade between the two gatherings? Among other things, Koch says major corporations have been greatly eclipsed by grassroots innovators.
- Categories
- Education
-
Five Ways to Make Electronic Delivery of Social Transfers Work for the Poor: Insights from CGAP’s recent Focus Note
Cash transfers are an increasingly popular tool to provide assistance to the poor, with nearly 174 million individuals in 43 countries receiving them. E-payments could improve the effectiveness of social transfers, but it’s very difficult to implement them effectively. A recent study conducted by Bankable Frontier Associates explores four programs on the cutting edge of designing and implementing e-payments in low-income settings.
- Categories
- Education
-
Afford Two, Eat One: A new report explores financial inclusion in rural Myanmar
Myanmar is a country with very low formal banking penetration, but changes are afoot that will stimulate domestic financial activity. In March of this year a team of Myanmar-based researchers mapped the changing financial landscape in the country, aiming to provide a foundational reference for organizations wishing to develop products and services for financially constrained consumers.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
-
Dating site tech inspires health research website
A meeting on drug discovery and development run by The International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases in London, United Kingdom, yesterday, brimmed with useful tips and resources for the research community. One of them was the just-launched space on The Global Health Network’s website dedicated to collaboration on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Tags
- research
-
NexThought Monday – Cash Transfers, Prejudice and Mental Health: MIT researchers discuss some overlooked aspects of their RCT on GiveDirectly
Cash transfers to the poor are often criticized as “handouts,” which dilute incentives to work, instill dependency, and may be wasted on alcohol, tobacco or other potentially harmful activities. But the researchers behind the recent randomized controlled trial on the cash transfer charity GiveDirectly argue that these criticisms are based on prejudice rather than fact, and that the economic impact of cash transfers is only part of the story.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
-
Beyond the Pioneer : Why Monitor’s next chapter on scale focuses on factors from outside of the social enterprise
We spoke with Harvey Koh, director at Monitor Inclusive Markets, about the new study, Beyond the Pioneer: Getting Inclusive Industries to Scale. It is the widely anticipated follow up to 2012’s From Blueprint to Scale: The Case for Philanthropy in Impact Investing. The new report details the very real structural barriers that social entrepreneurs must overcome if they expect to go beyond their pioneering days and reach scale.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- infrastructure, research
-
Nigeria, From Pure Growth to Harnessed Opportunity: A new report on the 3D role of business in the unfolding transformation
It is easy to pretend that there are two separate Nigerias: one a thrusting consumer powerhouse, and one socially divided and pocked by violence and poverty. For business, which relies on the success of the former, acknowledging the latter can be difficult, but they are two sides of the same coin. This week we are in Abuja to launch a new report by Business Action for Africa and the Initiative for Global Development: “The New Africa – Nigeria: From Growth to Opportunity”.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
-
Impact Investors Still Chasing A Too-Small Pool Of Companies
Interest in impact investing continues to increase, even as investors report a shortage of promising opportunities.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- impact investing, research