Adithya

Working Paper 2009-5

Microfinance and the dynamics of financial vulnerability. Lessons from rural South India

Isabelle Guérin Marc Roesch Santosh Kumar Venkatasubramanian Mariam Sangare

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RUME Working Papers Series

This series is published by the Rural Microfinance and Employment project (RUME). The project, RUME, has been selected in December 2007 by the French National Agency for Research (programme: Les Suds, Aujourd’hui). The main objective of this research is to explore the linkages between rural finance and rural employment - including diversification and migration - with a view to contributing to the ongoing discussions and interventions in the fields of rural development and poverty and vulnerability reduction. The project methodology relies on the following features: a pluridisciplinary approach, a combination of tools for data collection and analysis, a comparative perspective across three countries (Madagascar Mexico, South-India), a strategic collaboration with microfinance institutions. From an outcome perspective, the proposal will seek to achieve a balance between academic and applied results. Further details about the project and its work can be viewed on our web site at www.rume-microfinance.org

Rural Microfinance and Employment Project LPED – IRD – Université de Provence Case 10 – 3, Place Victor Hugo 13331 Marseille cedex 3 Tel: 00 33 (0) 6 72 06 52 66 www.rume-microfinance.org

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Microfinance and the dynamics of financial vulnerability. Lessons from rural India∗

Isabelle Guérin, Institute of Research for Development, France Marc Roesch, Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, France Santosh Kumar, French Institute of Pondicherry, India Venkatasubramanian, French Institute of Pondicherry, India Mariam Sangare, Toulouse I University, France

Working paper This version, October 2009

Abstract Drawing on data collected in rural South India, and using mainly a comprehensive approach, the purpose of this paper is to...