Editor's Note: When people (OK, a person; Hi Jeff!) starts checking on your safety since it's been so long since you've written the faiV, it's definitely time to bend the dimensions of space and time and finally get another one out. The last faiV turned into an extended rant on financial literacy. Here's a long overdue post on why I'm not convinced by the latest systematic review of finlit interventions, which claims evidence of impact on behavior.
–Tim Ogden
1. Digital Finance: First things first. The next faiVLive is coming up on June 23rd, and the topic will be the FinTech Expectations Gap. What's that you ask? Well, it comes from my obsession with the Great Convergence and domains where perceptions aren't converging. FinTech is one of those places. I've noticed that, in general, FinTech innovation is generally viewed as pro-poor in developing countries, but very skeptically in wealthier countries. So I'll be moderating a discussion of whether that's accurate, if those perceptions are justified, and whether there is a holistic framework for assessing whether digital finance innovations are pro-poor that applies across contexts. Joining me will be Yinka David-West, Tim Flacke, Tavneet Suri, Barbara Magnoni and Lois Bruu. Join us.
The Wage Garnishment Edition
Editor's Note: I didn't start writing this faiV as an extended rant about financial literacy. It just sort of happened.
Read MoreAccounting for the Gender Profit Gap
In countries across the world, women earn less than men. This is true not only for wage-paying jobs, but also for the earnings of micro and small businesses, which play a prominent role in most economies. Women-led businesses are less profitable than their male counterparts, have fewer employees, and are less likely to grow. In this webinar, we discuss what we have learned form research and experience that can help policymakers, financial service providers, and other organizations better meet the needs of women, and close gender gaps in small firms.
Read MoreThe 3rd Gen Edition
Editor's Note: TL;DR: The faiV has been missing because of a combination of launching a big new research project and some changes that we'll be making based on feedback from readers, but I'm back now.
Also, register here for the next faiVLive, "Accounting for the Gender Profit Gap" with Nava Ashraf, Morgan Hardy and others on March 2nd.
–Tim Ogden
How Low-Income Households Save—And Can We Help?
This edition of faiVLive—co-presented with the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, brought together researchers and practitioners to look at how short-term savings work and don’t work, with a particular eye to whether and how savings for low-income households can be boosted.
Week of October 23rd, 2020
Editor's Note: There are several webinar links below, but let me start with a couple that are upcoming and worthy of note. On October 28th, we'll have the next edition of the faiVLive, focused on savings—specifically, what we've learned about how poor households save, and how much we still don't know about how to effectively support savings. I'll be joined by Jonathan, as well as Jessica Goldberg (development economist at UMd), Gen Melford (Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program), and Jonathan Lee (Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners). As the guest list implies we'll be talking about this from both a US and developing country perspective. Register here.
Also, if you're from the development wing of the faiV readership, don't forget to register for virtual NEUDC, coming up November 6 and 7.
Since so many of you were very interested in my links questioning resilience a few weeks back, and since I don't have space for another item in this edition, here's what looks like a great new paper: A Scoping Review of the Development Resilience Literature: Theory, Methods and Evidence (short version: resilience is too ill-defined as yet to be all that useful).
Oh, and I missed you.
–Tim Ogden
Servicios Financieros Digitales y la inclusión financiera en América Latina
La pandemia ha elevado el perfil de los Servicios Financieros Digitales (SFD), los cuales han permitido una distribución sorprendentemente rápida de los fondos de apoyo social, ofreciendo un camino para brindar servicios financieros de forma segura y a escala. Sin embargo, aún quedan asuntos importantes que considerar en cuanto al despliegue e impacto final de los SFD. ¿Quiénes están siendo excluidos? ¿Cómo podemos asegurarnos de que los nuevos actores y modelos empresariales incorporen las necesidades de las comunidades y los clientes de escasos recursos? Esta edición de faiVLive reúne a profesionales e investigadores expertos para abordar estas preguntas y debatir el camino a seguir para los SFD y la inclusión financiera en América Latina.
Con la participación de: Xavier Faz, Líder de Modelos Empresariales y Líder Regional de CGAP en América Latina y el Caribe, Barbara Magnoni, Presidente de EA Consultants y Co-fundadora de MeXCo Soluciones, Timothy Ogden, Director General de la Iniciativa de Acceso Financiero de NYU, Kiki Del Valle, Vicepresidente Sénior de Alianzas Digitales de Mastercard.
Moderador: Gabriela Zapata, Consultora de Inclusión Financiera y Salud Financiera.
Week of September 14th, 2020
Editor's Note: Of particular note, this Tuesday (September 15th) at 10am Eastern there is a special edition of faiVLive in Spanish covering Digital Financial Services in Latin America. I'll be hosting with Gabriela Zapata moderating, and Kiki DelValle, Barbara Magnoni, and Xavier Faz will be joining us. Register here.
I apologize in advance if the final links on resilience undermine your resilience at the beginning of the week.
–Tim Ogden
Read MoreWeek of August 21st, 2020
Editor's Note: I feel like the typical "everyone is gone in August" thing hasn't been happening this year, but there is so much that's different that I can't really tell. And while I took some time off in July, and even went somewhere, it didn't feel like a vacation since there was still so much effort needed figuring out what the boys and I could do in a time of distancing and lockdowns. I hope you have had some time mentally away, but you know, not all of your time mentally away.
--Tim Ogden
Week of July 25th, 2020
Editor's Note: It's been a bit more than four years that I've been writing the faiV and though I probably haven't had as many links as minutes in a year, it's a safe bet that there have been more than 200 faiVs and 4000 links in that time. So I took a bit of an unannounced hiatus for the month. I hope you missed the faiV.
If you did, and you'd be interested in being part of a feedback panel that we are putting together to help us make decisions about the future of the faiV, please just respond to this email. And if you missed us but think the faiV is already perfect, feel free to respond to say that, but more importantly, please tell a few friends and colleagues to subscribe.
In public services announcements, there are a couple of research funding opportunities that may be of interest to you: a) UNESCAP has a new RFP for evidence-based interventions to support women entrepreneurs (in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal, Samoa, or Vietnam); and b) ANDE and the Canadian IDRC have a call for Expressions of Interest on studying the experiences of women in venture accelerators in Latin America and SSA.
--Tim Ogden
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