The program selected the following three teams through an open call for proposals in 2014:
Bolivia
Do Financial Management Tools Improve Credit Access Among Disadvantaged Sectors? Evidence from the use of an Integrated Platform for Company Management
Principal Investigator: Andrés O. Cuba Borda, Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Economica y Social and Fondo de la Comunidad, Bolivia
Co- Investigator: Sharim Alejandra Ribera Camacho, Centro de Estudios de la Realidad Economica y Social and Fondo de la Comunidad, Bolivia
The research aims to conduct an experimental design survey to gauge the relevance and impact of use of innovative financial management tools to manage the needs/demands of finances for certain disadvantaged sections of the society, to improve the probabilities of access to credit through overcoming the conventional barriers of collateral or supporting documentation to their credit applications.
Chile
Improving Financial Literacy and Participation of Female Entrepreneurs in Chile
Principal Investigator: Jeanne Lafortune, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Co- Investigator: José Tessada, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
The research studies the impact of adding a ‘role model’ and the impact of offering consulting services in various formats in the context of fostering micro-entrepreneurship training in Chile. The increased knowledge will potentially provide motivation, especially women, to become better entrepreneurs and improve their business.
Uruguay
Consumption and credit among the poor: assessing “parallel” market features and behavior towards cash-consumer credit in low income households in Uruguay
Principal Investigator: Cecilia Rossel Odriozola, Departamento de Ciencias Sociales y Políticas, Universidad Católica del Uruguay
The research analyzes the non-banking consumer credit market in Uruguay in order to identify the way low income and poor households are accessing and using it to manage their consumption demands as well as indebtedness for various other purposes.