Microfinance is often criticized for not adequately addressing seasonality and hard-core poverty. In Bangladesh, a program known as PRIME was introduced in 2006 to address both concerns. Unlike regular microfinance, PRIME introduces a microfinance scheme that offers a flexible repayment schedule...

Preface -- About the authors -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Rural nonfarm growth and poverty reduction -- Institutional growth and MFI performance -- Dynamics of microfinance benefits -- Are borrowers overindebted? -- Role of microfinance in poverty transition -- Diversification of income...

Preface -- About the authors -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Rural nonfarm growth and poverty reduction -- Institutional growth and MFI performance -- Dynamics of microfinance benefits -- Are borrowers overindebted? -- Role of microfinance in poverty transition -- Diversification of income...

Energy poverty is a frequently used term among energy specialists, but unfortunately the concept is rather loosely defined. Several existing approaches measure energy poverty by defining an energy poverty line as the minimum quantity of physical energy needed to perform such basic tasks as...

This paper applies an econometric analysis to estimate the average and distribution benefits of rural electrification using rich household survey data from India. The results support that rural electrification helps to reduce time allocated to fuelwood collection by household members and...

In less-developed economies such as Bangladesh, the farm sector is the major source of employment and income, while the rural nonfarm sector provides as an additional source of income. But the rural nonfarm sector increasingly plays an important role in fostering the development of the rural...

Microcredit programs in Bangladesh have experienced spectacular growth in recent years, with a growing number of borrowers availing credit from multiple microcredit agencies. There is a growing concern that if there are not sufficient returns to borrowing from microfinance institutions (MFIS),...

Access to energy, especially modern sources, is a key to any development initiative. Based on cross-section data from a 2004 survey of some 2,300 households in rural Bangladesh, this paper studies the welfare impacts of household energy use, including that of modern energy, and estimates the...

The Government of Bangladesh, with help from the World Bank and other donors, has provided aid to a local agency called Infrastructure Development Company Limited and its partner organizations to devise a credit scheme for marketing solar home system units and making these an affordable...

Access to electricity is crucial for economic development and there is a growing body of literature on the impact of rural electrification on development. However, most studies have so far relied on cross-sectional surveys comparing households with and without electricity, which have well known...