Conditional Loans: Flexible Microfinance in Bangladesh

Last registered on March 11, 2017

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Conditional Loans: Flexible Microfinance in Bangladesh
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001287
Initial registration date
May 22, 2016

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 22, 2016, 10:35 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
March 11, 2017, 6:18 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Chicago

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
UC Berkeley
PI Affiliation
UC Berkeley

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2016-05-01
End date
2018-01-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This research proposes to test a new micro-credit product developed in tandem with BRAC Bangladesh that has been modified in order to make it more useful as a income shock coping mechanism. This new product, called the Emergency Loan is designed to address the main limitations of micro-credit as a useful tool for shock coping by offering guaranteed access to a fixed amount of capital regardless of the level of damage done to the individual. It is hoped that thus designed, the Emergency Loan can provide the positive benefits from micro-insurance while by-passing the issue of low demand associated with those products.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Janvry, Alain, Gregory Lane and Elisabeth Sadoulet. 2017. "Conditional Loans: Flexible Microfinance in Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. March 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1287-2.0
Former Citation
Janvry, Alain, Gregory Lane and Elisabeth Sadoulet. 2017. "Conditional Loans: Flexible Microfinance in Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. March 11. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1287/history/14885
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2016-05-05
Intervention End Date
2017-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Food consumption, business investment, agriculture investment, asset ownership, migration, loans taken, savings, local wages.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomized control trial across established micro-credit branches operated by a large MFI in Bangladesh.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization in office by computer
Randomization Unit
Microfinance branch
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 microfinance branches
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,000 microfinance clients.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 branches control, 100 branches treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UC BERKELEY
IRB Approval Date
2016-04-08
IRB Approval Number
2015-12-8181

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials