The Elasticity of Demand for Microcredit: Evidence from Latin America

Microcredit demand is frequently assumed to be inelastic, yet understanding the price elasticity of demand for microcredit is highly relevant in designing appropriate microfinance institution (MFI) financial products and policy. This article extracts loan demand schedules and elasticities of MFI borrowers in the Dominican Republic using a unique survey instrument. We analyse the intensive margin of microcredit demand and find that client demand elasticities are not homogeneous and are correlated with certain borrower characteristics. Overall results suggest that these micro‐entrepreneurs, who have already entered the MFI market, have close to unit elastic demand for microcredit. The mean demand elasticity for our sample is ‐1.0.     

Évaluer les pratiques des entreprises en matière de travail décent: une analyse des méthodologies de notation ESG

Les agences de notation spécialisées dans l‘évaluation des pratiques des entreprises en matière environnementale, sociale et de gouvernance (ESG) sont des partenaires importants pour les acteurs de l'investissement responsable, qu'elles alimentent en données extrafinancières. Si la question des indicateurs ESG a déjà été traitée dans la littérature, la façon d‘évaluer le travail décent est peu documentée. Les auteurs observent les pratiques de six agences de notation ESG pour comprendre comment ces organismes mesurent et évaluent la performance en matière de travail décent, et avec quelles difficultés, et pour déterminer si l'investissement responsable et les notations ESG peuvent véritablement promouvoir le travail décent dans les entreprises.     

Interpersonal synchrony is associated with infants’ reactions to subtle changes in caregiver-infant interactions

The present study examined the role of interpersonal synchrony between mothers and their 4-month-old infants (N = 40) in infant responses to a modified interaction where mothers continually looked and verbalised towards but did not engage with their children. During a natural interaction we observed behavioural synchrony and for a subsample of infants (n = 20) measured change in their salivary oxytocin from before to after the natural interaction. During the modified interaction we observed infant gaze, positive, and negative affect. We found that higher interpersonal synchrony was related to longer infants’ social gaze and shorter displays of negative affect during the modified interaction. Increase in infant oxytocin was also associated with longer gaze, but also longer negative and shorter positive affect during the modified interaction. Our results show that interpersonal synchrony allows infants to notice changes in interactions with others, but also helps them to regulate their emotions during such modified exchanges. These findings thus indicate the importance of synchrony experiences with caregivers for the development of early regulatory capacities.