PhD scholar Muneer Kalliyil presents research IGIDR PhD Colloquium-2024

11 November, 2024, Bengaluru: Muneer Kalliyil, doctoral scholar in the Economics area at IIM Bangalore presented his research at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research PhD Colloquium-2024, held at IGIDR, Mumbai, from 6 to 8 November 2024. The topic of his research was ‘Does restricting access to credit affect learning outcomes? Evidence from a regulatory shock to microfinance in India’.

This study investigates how limiting households’ access to microfinance impacts children's learning, based on a unique natural experiment in Andhra Pradesh (AP), India, where all microfinance operations were suspended in 2010. The findings show a significant and persistent decline in children’s learning outcomes. The study also finds a few suggestive evidence behind this effect, such as a shift in enrollment from private to government schools, lower household spending on education, reduced food expenditure impacting nutrition, and a decline in mothers' employment potentially affecting intra-household resource allocation. The analysis further reveals that the adverse effects are more prominent for girls and younger children. By focusing on the effects of regulatory restrictions rather than microfinance provision, this study complements existing literature and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the socioeconomic impacts of microfinance.