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Don’t Cover Everything: Why targeted health microinsurance can work better than full coverage
EA Consultants’ efforts to understand both the business case and client value of microinsurance led to some interesting findings. For instance, catastrophic health insurance represented much greater value than primary or outpatient care for clients, but its behavioral effects skewed against good health outcomes. Barbara Magnoni discusses these findings, and offers some solutions.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
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Weekly Roundup – 2/20/15: A Turning Point in the Evolution of Microfinance?
There has been plenty of research questioning the social impact of microcredit. But the latest studies in the American Economic Journal feel far more momentous. Conducted by prominent poverty researchers, and covering six countries on four continents, they consistently undermine the sector’s core social impact claims. NextBillion will cover the Feb. 27 event on the research and the path ahead.
- Categories
- Education, Environment, Impact Assessment
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New Tuberculosis Drug Enters First Trial: The Good and Sad News
The maiden human trial of a potential tuberculosis drug — the first in six years — has now commenced.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Tags
- research
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Competing with the ‘Bank of Mom’: What makes informal finance so popular – and how can financial services providers respond?
After tracking the financial activities of lower-income Americans for a full year, the U.S. Financial Diaries project found that informal financial mechanisms were enduringly popular - even when formal alternatives were used. What makes them so appealing - and how can financial services providers respond? We discuss these issues in part two of our Q&A with FAI Executive Director Jonathan Morduch.
- Categories
- Education
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Global Pharma’s R&D Re-Balancing
Earlier this week, in Michael Woodhead’s superb blog China Medical News, he wrote about “major problems with ‘serious’ research clinical trails carried out in China.” Michael points to a JAMA article and then proceeds to elaborate:
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- research
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Understanding the ‘Invisible Finance Sector’: FAI Executive Director Jonathan Morduch discusses the U.S Financial Diaries’ research on informal finance – Part 1
It’s easy to assume that informal financial tools like family loans are only used when people lack access to formal finance. But that’s not what the U.S. Financial Diaries project has found. In part one of this Q&A, Financial Access Initiative Executive Director Jonathan Morduch discusses the enduring appeal of informal finance among low-income people - and what it means for financial services providers.
- Categories
- Education
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‘My Home, Your Business’: A New Evaluation Tool Based on Nearly 100 Cases, 25 Interviews With Firms, Experts in Affordable Housing
Ghost towns built by well-meaning developers and governments can be found in many corners of the world. But these failed projects only tell part of the story. Innovative companies and partners are learning from the past and building houses people want to live in and business models that make investors listen, according to "My Home, Your Business – A Guide to Affordable Housing Solutions for Low-Income Communities.”
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Building Corridors for Shared Prosperity: Seven lessons from Intellecap, IFC on ‘what works’ in international expansion of inclusive businesses
IFC, in partnership with Intellecap, released a new report “Corridors for Shared Prosperity” at the Sankalp Africa Summit in Nairobi last week. The report is a repository of knowledge about “what works” in successful replication of businesses and presents a framework for systematic transfer. Eleven businesses across agriculture, health care and renewable energy that expanded from India to South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa were identified for analysis.
- Categories
- Education
