Publications
2014
-
Impact Insurance Research Paper #37: Bundling health insurance and microfinance in India
01 March 2014
Microfinance institutions have started to bundle their basic loans with other financial services, such as health insurance. Using a randomized control trial in Karnataka, India, Research Paper #37 evaluated the impact on loan renewal from mandating the purchase of actuarially-fair health insurance covering hospitalization and maternity expenses. Bundling loans with insurance led to a 16 percentage point (23%) increase in drop-out from microfinance, as many clients preferred to give up microfinance than pay higher interest rates and receive insurance. There was no adverse selection in insurance enrollment, but only because there was a total absence of demand for health insurance. Further, the decrease in microfinance loan renewal reduced clients' access to credit and had negative impacts on their businesses.
-
Impact Insurance Research Paper #38: The distributional consequences of micro health insurance
01 March 2014
Despite the rapid growth of health microinsurance (HMI) programs, there is little empirical evidence of their distributional consequences. This paper suggests that the concern of HMI leading to regressive transfers from poor to relatively wealthier households is less important than expected based on an imbalanced randomized control trial with a community based HMI programme in rural Maharashtra in India. Below the Poverty Line (BPL) households consume only 66 per cent of non-BPL households’ annual health care expenditures, suggesting that poorer households subsidize wealthier households. Yet, HMI differentially increases BPL households’ health care expenditure by almost USD 3 per month of coverage. Poorer households are also more sensitive to cost reductions in health care and gains in health care are concentrated among them. These findings suggest that HMI narrows the gap in health care consumption among the insured.
-
Impact Insurance Research Paper #39: Can debiasing provided over the internet improve consumer financial decisions?
01 March 2014
Over the last few decades, the Indian population has gained access to an increasing array of insurance and investment options. While financial markets promise to facilitate the higher average long-run return in equity markets make them an attractive avenue for wealth accumulation, limited understanding of complex financial markets often may causes people to save in sub-optimal instruments. In particular, the apparent safety, money-back features and tax-breaks associated with whole life insurance products have led a large fraction of Indians to save in these products. In fact, these consumers may be much better off buying term policies and investing the difference in premiums directly in financial markets. The authors identify several barriers to optimal financial decision-making and experimentally test whether barrier-specific financial advice messages can help consumers make better investment decisions. They conduct online experiments both in the U.S. and in India, and conclude that information alone is not sufficient; subtle de-biasing message have only limited and non-significant impacts on the India sample.
-
Briefing Note #24: The moment of truth: Claims management in microinsurance
01 March 2014
In Briefing Note #24, the experience of 12 microinsurance providers across various product types and regional contexts is explored in order to identify some guiding principles that apply uniquely to claims management in microinsurance. Common underlying drivers that affect the claims process are identified and programme design considerations are evaluated for their potential impact on the claims function. The goal is to identify strategies for claims processes and systems that can maximize efficiency and client value.
-
Impact Insurance Working Paper #30: Scale: Thinking big
01 March 2014
Achieving scale is a significant success factor for microinsurance schemes, as low premiums with high costs require substantial volumes to make an initiative sustainable; however to achieve scale is difficult.
-
Impact Insurance Working Paper #31: Breaking the ICE
01 March 2014
In the last decade, some insurance associations (IAs) have expanded beyond their traditional core functions to develop insurance consumer education (ICE) programmes. Based on a review of the experiences of IAs in five countries, namely Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mexico and South Africa, Microinsurance Paper #31 discusses the steps that should be taken during the preparation of an ICE. These include assigning responsibility internally, defining funding mechanisms, setting clear goals, defining the programme target and identifying partnership opportunities. It goes on to summarize key lessons for IAs on content, delivery and monitoring and evaluation.
-
Impact Insurance Working Paper #32: Business case for microinsurance part II
01 March 2014
In 2010 the Facility studied six insurers and saw that they were facing challenges with profitability. They implemented a number of corrective measures, particularly in distribution and claims management. Now, Microinsurance Paper #32 investigates whether those measures have been successful over the longer term.
-
Annual Report 2013
28 February 2014
The Annual Report 2013 highlights the achievements of the ILO's Impact Insurance Facility over the past year.
-
Green jobs in Mexico
21 February 2014
This report summarizes the main findings of a national green jobs assessment conducted in Mexico in 2013. The assessment revealed how many green jobs currently exist in the country and which sectors show the strongest potential for further green jobs creation.
-
ILO and Cooperatives - ILO COOP NEWS No. 4, 2013
12 February 2014
This issue of the COOP News includes articles on various events, projects, trainings and meetings related to the work of the ILO's COOP Unit between October and December, 2013.
-
Case Brief #5: Fonkoze
01 February 2014
Increasingly insurance is being seen as a way to protect low-income people against the worst effects of catastrophes, such as the storms, floods and earthquakes which are regular and devastating for poor Haitians. Yet a chasm exists between the world of multinational reinsurers and the daily life of Haiti’s most vulnerable. Find out how Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest microfinance institution, was able to bridge this gap.
-
Briefing Note #21: Mobile phones and microinsurance
01 February 2014
Insurers are using mobile phones to address two main challenges facing the microinsurance sector: increasing efficiency and reaching scale. Briefing note #21 is based on a review of literature and 13 insurance schemes that are using mobile phones in some capacity. The brief reveals good practices and lessons for insurers to consider when implementing mobile-based microinsurance.
-
Briefing Note #22: Using subsidies for inclusive insurance: lessons from agriculture and health
01 February 2014
Insurance can contribute to a number of public policy objectives, including improving access to health care, increasing food security, and coping with climate change. There is therefore a public policy rationale to invest in the development of efficient insurance markets that provide equitable access to low-income households. Briefing Note #22 presents a framework and lessons from nine subsidized insurance schemes for governments and donors on how to effectively design and implement “smart” subsidies for agriculture and health microinsurance. This study was partly funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which promotes insurance approaches within comprehensive systems of social protection and inclusive financial systems.
-
Briefing Note #23: Removing obstacles to access microinsurance
01 February 2014
Based on a review of more than ten case studies, Briefing Note No. 23 identifies barriers to access and provides strategies to overcome them. More specifically, it takes a closer look at three business processes that enable access – enrolment, premium collection and renewal – and some related success factors. The goal is to provide concrete examples of how microinsurance schemes can improve clients’ access to products.
-
Doha Evidence Symposium, 6-8 March, Doha
22 January 2014
“What Works” To Improve Youth Labour Productivity?
-
Can Better Working Conditions Improve the Performance of SMEs? An international literature review
16 January 2014
This research has been commissioned by the International Labour Office (ILO) as a contribution to the Global Product 154 and the Area of Critical Importance, Productivity and working conditions in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
-
Client value series #1: Is there value in microinsurance?
01 January 2014
Drawing on several years of original research as well as other evidence from the field, the ILO’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility and the MicroInsurance Centre’s Microinsurance Learning and Knowledge (MILK) project provide concrete insights into how, when, in what ways, and to what extent clients receive value from microinsurance. This first of three briefs on client value introduces the theory of change through which value is realized and presents the evidence of impact in terms of improved financial protection, reduced vulnerability, and better health.
-
Client value series: Introduction
01 January 2014
For several years, the Microinsurance Innovation Facility and the MicroInsurance Centre’s Microinsurance Learning and Knowledge (MILK) project have been assessing if low-income people actually benefit from insurance and how the value they derive from insurance can be enhanced. A three-part series summarizes the evidence, translates the results into guidance to improve client value for practitioners and consultants, and provides recommendations for policymakers, funders and other stakeholders. Together this evidence makes a substantial contribution to the body of work on client value. This is an introductory letter on the series from Michael J McCord and Craig Churchill.
-
Impact Insurance Working Paper #28: The moment of truth: Claims management in microinsurance
01 January 2014
In this paper, the experience of 12 microinsurance providers across various product types and regional contexts is explored in order to identify some guiding principles that apply uniquely to claims management in microinsurance. Common underlying drivers that affect the claims process are identified and programme design considerations are evaluated for their potential impact on the claims function. The goal is to identify strategies for claims processes and systems that can maximize efficiency and client value
-
Impact Insurance Working Paper #29: Using subsidies for inclusive insurance: lessons from agriculture and health
01 January 2014
Insurance can contribute to a number of public policy objectives, including improving access to health care, increasing food security, and coping with climate change. There is therefore a public policy rationale to invest in the development of efficient insurance markets that provide equitable access to low-income households. Microinsurance Paper #29 presents a framework and lessons from nine subsidized insurance schemes for governments and donors on how to effectively design and implement “smart” subsidies for agriculture and health microinsurance. This study was partly funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which promotes insurance approaches within comprehensive systems of social protection and inclusive financial systems.