Principal Investigator: Francis John Teal. Lead Organisation: University of Oxford
Co-investigators: Abigail Barr
It is proposed to evaluate how access to micro-finance and processes of formalisation can impact on poverty by investigating two policies in Ghana and Tanzania. The first is the expansion of micro-credit services into randomly selected communities by several partner NGOs. The second is the implications of a process of formalising business structures currently underway in Tanzania. A three year panel of workers in the urban areas of both Ghana and Tanzania has already been created so a base line exists with which to compare the outcomes.
The project is designed to establish how far these policies of credit and formalisation at the level of the individual can impact on poverty either directly by raising consumption or indirectly by increasing the productivity of employment opportunities available to the poor. It is proposed to re-survey the individuals in this panel in both countries to show how these changes have impacted on their livelihoods.
Both interventions provide a unique opportunity to measure the causal impact of particular policies on poverty.