Category Archives: Banking
Part 4: The visual documentation of the original research on rural economic behaviour
I have uploaded a PDF synopsis of the fieldwork conducted during the original Prepaid Economy research including approach and methodology. Also documented are the different ways those in the rural economy manage their ‘investments’. These images support the observations documented … Continue reading
Part 2: The Observations made during original research on rural economic behaviour
One can roughly consider the relative income (or wealth) across three regions where observations were conducted on a continuum where the Indian village was the ‘wealthiest’ while the Malawians were living closest to the edge. However, on synthesizing the combined … Continue reading
Part 1: Why are we publishing our original research on rural economic behaviour in 5 parts online?
A recent article in The Economist on the economic value of owning cattle in rural India made me to realize just how little is understood about the rural economy. Here’s a snippet: That is because most people find spending easier … Continue reading
Promoting Africa’s Informal Sector
Organising the informal sector and recognising its role as a profitable activity may contribute to economic development. This can also improve the capacity of informal workers to meet their basic needs by increasing their incomes and strengthening their legal status. … Continue reading
Snippets of note
The fifth most important barrier to financial inclusion is individual level informality, a constraint cited by 15 percent of the unbanked population in Nigeria. Respondents who cite informality reasons for financial exclusion tend to be more educated and rurally based … Continue reading
In sum
Irregular income streams from a variety of sources pose their own challenges to both buyers and sellers but offer an opportunity through the flexibility designed into business models for the informal economies where this pattern of cash flow tends to … Continue reading
Static income vs dynamic income
It was when attempting to clearly distinguish between patterns of cash flow in the formal vs the informal economy, using the concept of the degree of control granted to the end user over the variables of time (duration, frequency, periodicity) … Continue reading
Risk mitigation strategies in the uncertainty of the informal economy
What is the role of flexibility as an inherent design principle for transactions in the informal economy? Why is it so critical to the success or failure of business models in this operating environment? What does flexibility primarily tend to … Continue reading
The Informal Economy Symposium, Barcelona on October 12th 2012
Our aim with this symposium is to explore the global scope, innovations and potential futures of the informal economy. Opening Keynote will be John Keith Hart, who coined the term “informal economy” and the day long symposium on the 12th … Continue reading
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