The Controversial Effects of Microfinance on Child Schooling: A Retrospective Approach

The aim of this report is to present a novel method for assessing the impact of microfinance on children’s education within existing organizations, overcoming challenges related to the lack of panel data and selection bias. By integrating retrospective panel data, fixed effects, and comparisons between pre- and post-treatment trends, we aim to provide a more accurate analysis of the progressive effects of microfinance on its beneficiaries.

Additionally, we seek to address the growing demand for impact evaluation methodologies required by regulators and funders to assess the performance of existing institutions. We apply this approach to a sample of microfinance beneficiaries from two districts of Buenos Aires with varying income levels, controlling for survivorship bias and heterogeneity of participant characteristics over time.