This thesis consists of three essays that examine investment choices in less developed countries. Chapter 1 examines how the structure of existing microfinance contracts may discourage risky but high-expected return investments. I develop a theory that unifies models of investment choice, informal insurance, and formal financial contracts and test the predictions using a series of experiments w...

The application of microfinance to the provision, improvement or adaptation housing—‘housing microfinance’—is an increasingly significant area practice and research interest. Housing has proliferated, predominantly but not exclusively in global South. Its proliferation must be understood context financialisation concurrently growing importance financial self-help private real estate investment....

This article highlights the effects particular features of microfinance programs have on childhood education. Using data from a South India household survey, the article examines how microfinance impacts schooling and literacy, how credit enters the household, and who brings it in. Regression results show that, in the case of direct bank-borrower credit delivery, it does not matter whether cred...