Research

Since multiple-borrowing often leads to over-indebtedness, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued new directives to Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) including restrictions against lending to borrowers having two or more outstanding loans. We argue that such conditions will push productive borrowers to exit the market. We examine whether potential errants can be flagged from available borrower information collected by a Credit Information Company (CIC). We find that borrowers with higher counts of active loans are more likely to furnish different ID cards for taking loans and also take multiple loans on the same ID card. We, therefore, recommend the gradual softening of RBI’s curbs and suggest incentivizing MFIs to train errant borrowers to better manage their finances before loan disbursal.

DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2019.1631435

In order to control over-indebtedness that often leads to capacity failure, the Reserve Bank of India recently issued directives for Micro Finance Institutions to restrict multiple loans to borrowers. These institutions are also required to regularly share their current borrowers’ loan records with a Credit Information Company. We argue here that ex-post loan record verification is inefficient and inadequate considering the socio-economic and informational asymmetries in micro-credit markets. Instead, we reason, household characteristics can predict multiple-borrowing behaviour. Our empirical analysis shows that this is true to some extent. We dwell on policy implications and ways to improve our model.

DOI: 10.4236/tel.2018.810116

Microinsurance refers to traditional insurance products redesigned for low-income individuals or households. The difference usually lies in product features, distribution, and administration. Health microinsurance offers financial protection against risks to health, such as unforeseen illnesses or accidents, usually within a spectrum of products ranging from limited coverage to comprehensive healthcare. Across multiple geographies, the pool of clients for health microinsurance is typically found to be small, raising concerns about the sustainability of such schemes.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_115-1

Water is a vital component of the Water-Food- Energy nexus, and therefore, securing our water resources is of central importance for a sustainable planet. As various activities require water, multiple definitions of “water security” abound (Bakker 2012). UN-Water (2013) comprehensively define “water security” as “The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human wellbeing, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.” Gerlak et al. (2018) note that even further attributes such as the “resilience of water systems” need consideration.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-69626-3_93-1

Safe food is nutriment that is fit for human consumption. Food safety pertains to the entire set of processes that prevent and monitor foods from acquiring any foodborne hazards from the “farm to fork.” While food security ensures that no one in the world goes hungry or malnourished, food safety further ensures that the food is devoid of chemical, physical, and biological hazards that will not harm the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use. Farmers need to follow good agricultural practices (GAP) and food traceability systems to certify that grown foods are safe and wholesome as well as reduce food rejections and wastage. Food manufacturers are also required to have good manufacturing practices (GMP) and proper food safety management systems (FSMS) in their processing plants to assure safe foods to consumers.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-69626-3_20-1