LEORA F. KLAPPER
The World Bank phone: 1-202-473-8738 1818 H Street, NW email: [email protected] Washington, DC 20433 web: https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/people/l/leora-klapper USA skype: leora.klapper
CURRENT EMPLOYMENT
• The World Bank, Washington, DC Lead Economist, Development Research Group, 2011-Present Senior Economist, Development Research Group, 2002-2011 (Young) Economist, Development Research Group, 1998-2002
PRIMARY RESEARCH FIELDS: Consumer Finance; Digital Financial Services; Behavioral Economics; Measurement
COUNTRY EXPERIENCE: Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania
FOUNDER: - Global Findex Database - Entrepreneurship Database
AWARDS: - Accion 2018 Edward W. Claugus Award for exceptional leadership and innovation in financial inclusion - World Bank Group Team Awards 2014, 2016, 2019
EDUCATION
• Stern School of Business, New York University (1993-1998) Ph.D. in Financial Economics Fields: Corporate Finance, Financial Institutions. Dissertation: Essays on Collateralization - The Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award for Graduate Instructor, 1997 - The Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies Fellowship, 1996-1998 - University Doctoral Fellowship, New York University, 1993-1996
• State University of New York at Binghamton (1986-1990) BS in Economics and Math (with Honors)
PRIOR EMPLOYMENT
• Salomon Brothers, Economic and Market Analysis, New York, NY (Part-time 1995-1998) • Peter L. Bernstein, New York, NY (Part-time 1995-1996) Researcher, “Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk” • The Bank of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel (1992-1993) • Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Washington, DC (1990-1992) • Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC (Summers 1988 & 1989)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth Data Fellow, 2018-Present • Innovations for Poverty Action Measuring Global Financial Health Project Advisory Committee Member, 2018-Present • Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) Reference Group Member, 2016-Present • BBVA Financial Literacy Advisory Board Member, 2016-Present • G-20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) Implementing Partner, 2010-Present • World Economic Forum Financial Inclusion Metrics Working Group Project Member, 2017-2018 • i2i Advisory Board Member, 2016-2018 • OECD Entrepreneurship Indicators Steering Group Member, 2005-2009
RESEARCH CITATIONS
• 23,110 citations in published and working papers; h-index=52 (Google Scholar, 2020) • Author rank top-2% as measured by number of citations and number of downloads in the past 12 months and top-3% of all authors by average rank score (IDEAS, 2020)
EDITING & REFEREEING
• Co-editor, World Bank Economic Review, 2016-2020 • Associate Editor, Journal of Comparative Economics, 2010-2015 • Referee for American Economic Review, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Political Economy, Review of Financial Studies, Small Business Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics, World Development, etc.
EXTERNAL GRANTS:
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010, 2013, 2018, 2019 • UNCDF Better Than Cash Alliance, 2019, 2017, 2015 • MasterCard Foundation, 2018 • Better Than Cash Alliance/UNCDF, 2018 • AXA Foundation, 2016 • S&P Global, 2016 • MetLife Foundation, 2015 • International Center for Growth, 2015 • Innovations for Poverty Action, 2014 • Asian Development Bank-Innovations for Poverty Action Evaluation Grant, 2013 • Australian Agency for International Development, 2013 • Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 2007, 2010
BOOKS
• The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution, with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Dorothe Singer, Saniya Ansar, and Jake Hess, The World Bank, 2018 • Entrepreneurship Snapshots 2010: Measuring the Impact of the Financial Crisis on New Business Registration with Inessa Love, The World Bank, 2010
SELECT JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
• “Financial Literacy and Financial Resilience: Evidence from Around the World" with Annamaria Lusardi, Financial Management, August 2019 o Awarded Financial Management Top Downloaded Paper 2018-2019 • “Workplace Signaling and Financial Commitment: Evidence from a Field Experiment” with Emily Breza and Martin Kanz, AEA Papers and Proceedings 2018, May 2018 • “Salary Delays and Overdrafts in Rural Ghana” with Niklas Buehren, Markus Goldstein, Tricia Koroknay-Palicz and Simone Schaner, AEA Papers and Proceedings 2018, May 2018 • “Improving Financial Access for Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries: Evidence from a Series of Experiments with Commercial Bank Loan Officers” with Shawn Cole and Martin Kanz, Journal of Finance, April 2015. • “Measuring Financial Inclusion: Explaining Variation Across and Within Countries” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring 2013 • “Trade Credit Contracts” with Luc Laeven, and Raghuram Rajan, Review of Financial Studies 25:3, 2012 • “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on New Firm Registration” with Inessa Love, Economics Letters 113:1, 2011 [lead article] • “Portfolio Preferences of Foreign Institutional Investors” with Reena Aggarwal and Peter Wysocki, Journal of Banking and Finance 29:12, 2006 [lead article] o Awarded Elsevier’s Economics & Finance Journals Most Cited Articles 2005-2009 • “Corporate Governance, Investor Protection and Performance in Emerging Markets” with Inessa Love, Journal of Corporate Finance, 2004 o Awarded second most highly cited article in the Journal of Corporate Finance in 2010 • “Capital Structure, Foreign Debt and Financial Risk: Evidence from East Asia” with Yiorgos Allayannis and Greg Brown, Journal of Finance, 2003
OTHER JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
• “Measuring Financial Inclusion and Opportunities to Expand Access to and Use of Financial Services” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Dorothe Singer, and Peter van Oudheusden, World Bank Economic Review 34, February 2020 • “The Opportunities and Challenges of Digitizing Government-to-Person Payments” with Dorothe Singer, World Bank Research Observer 32:2, 2017 • “How digital payments can benefit entrepreneurs”, IZA World of Labor 396, 2017 • “The Role of Private Equity Investments in Public Firms: International Evidence” with Sandeep Dahiya, Leora Klapper, Harini Parthasarathy and Dorothe Singer, Journal of Corporate Finance 45, 2017 • “The Foundations of Financial Inclusion: Understanding Ownership and Use of Formal Accounts” with Franklin Allen, Asli Demirguc-Kunt, and Sole Martinez Peria, Journal of Financial Intermediation 27, 2016 [lead article] • “New Firm Registration and the Business Cycle” with Inessa Love and Douglas Randall, International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 1:2, 2015 • “The Role of Informal Financial Services in Africa” with Dorothe Singer, Journal of African Economics 24:1, 2014. • “The Impact of Business Environment Reforms on New Registrations of Limited Liability” with Inessa Love, World Bank Economic Review 30:2, 2014. • “Bargaining Power and Trade Credit” with Daniela Fabbri, Journal of Corporate Finance 10:5, 2014 • “Islamic Finance and Financial Inclusion: Measuring Use of and Demand For Formal Financial Services Among Muslim Adults” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Douglas Randall, Middle East Review of Economics and Finance 10:2, 2014. • "Taxation and Capital Structure: Evidence from a Transition Economy" with Konstantinos Tzioumis, FinanzArchiv / Public Finance Analysis, 2012 • “Patterns of Business Creation, Survival, and Growth: Evidence from Africa” with Christine Richmond, Labour Economics 18:1, 2012 • “Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning: The Russian Case” with Georgios A. Panos, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance 10:4, 2012 • "The Challenges of Bankruptcy Reform" with Elena Cirmizi and Mahesh Uttamchandani, World Bank Research Observer 26:2, 2011 • “Entrepreneurship and Development: The Role of Information Asymmetries” with Inessa Love, World Bank Economic Review: Symposium Issue on Entrepreneurship and Growth 25:3, 2012 • “The Impact of the Business Environment on Young Firm Financing” with Larry Chavis and Inessa Love, World Bank Economic Review: Symposium Issue on Entrepreneurship and Growth 25:3, 2012 • “Gender and the New Business Environment for New Firm Creation” with Simon Parker, World Bank Research Observer 26:2, 2011 • “Entrepreneurship in Post-Conflict Transition: The Role of Informality and Access to Finance” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Georgios Panos, Economics of Transition 19:1, 2010 • “The Typology of Partial Credit Guarantee Funds around the World” with Thorsten Beck and Juan Carlo Mendoza, Journal of Financial Stability 6:1, 2010 • “Bank Competition and Financial Stability” with Allen Berger and Rima Turk, Journal of Financial Services Research 35:2, 2009 [lead article] • “What Does ‘Entrepreneurship’ Data Really Show?” with Zoltan J. Acs and Sameeksha Desai, Small Business Economics, 2008 • “Bank Ownership Type and Banking Relationships” with Allen Berger, Maria Soledad Martinez Peria, and Rida Zaidi, Journal of Financial Intermediation 17:1, 2008 • “American Depository Receipts ADR Holdings of U.S. Based Emerging Market Funds” with Reena Aggarwal and Sandeep Dahiya, Journal of Banking and Finance 31:6, 2007 • “Who Survives? A Cross-Country Comparison” with Sandeep Dahiya, Journal of Financial Stability 3:3, 2007 • “The Role of Factoring for Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises", Journal of Banking and Finance 30:11, 2007 • “Corporate Governance Provisions and Firm Ownership: Firm-Level Evidence from Eastern Europe” with Luc Laeven, and Inessa Love, Journal of International Money and Finance 25:3, 2007 • “Insolvency Laws Around the World – A Statistical Analysis and Rules for their Design” with Stijn Claessens, CESifo Dice Report 4:1, 2007 • “Corporate Governance and Bank Performance: A Joint Analysis of the Static, Selection, and Dynamic Effects of Domestic, Foreign, and State Ownership” with Allen Berger, George Clarke, Robert Cull, and Gregory Udell, Journal of Banking and Finance 29:8, 2005 • “Corporate Valuation and the Resolution of Bank Insolvency in East Asia” with Simeon Djankov and Jan Jindra, Journal of Banking and Finance, 2005 • “Bankruptcy Around the World: Explanations of its Relative Use" with Stijn Claessens, American Law and Economics Review, 2005 • “The Development of Mutual Funds Around the World” with Victor Sulla and Dimitri Vittas, Emerging Markets Review, 2004 • “Further Evidence on the Link between Finance and Growth: An International Analysis of Community Banking and Economic Performance” with Allen Berger and Iftekhar Hassan, Journal of Financial Services Research, 2004 • “Resolution of Corporate Distress in East Asia” with Stijn Claessens and Simeon Djankov, Journal of Empirical Finance, 2003 • “The Ability of Banks to Lend to Informationally Opaque Small Businesses” with Allen Berger and Greg Udell, Journal of Banking and Finance 25, 2001
UNPUBLISHED WORKING PAPERS
• “Learning About a Financial Technology: Evidence from Electronic Payroll Accounts” with Emily Breza and Martin Kanz, April 2020. • “The Limits of Commitment: Who Benefits from Illiquid Savings Products?” with Niklas Buehren, Markus Goldstein, Tricia Koroknay-Palicz, and Simone Schaner, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8633, 2019 • “Measuring the Effectiveness of Service Delivery: Delivery of Government Provided Goods and Services”, Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Leora Klapper, and Neeraj Prasad, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8207, 2017 • “Civil Conflict and Firm Performance: Evidence from Cote d’Ivoire” with Christine Richmond and Trang Tran, 2016
BOOK CHAPTERS
• “Banking in China” with Maria Soledad Martinez-Peria and Bilal Zia, Oxford Handbook of Banking, Forthcoming. • “Financial Inclusion and Inclusive Growth: A Review of Recent Empirical Evidence” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Dorothe Singer, Oxford Handbook of Finance and Development, Forthcoming. • “Determinants of Saving for Old Age Around the World” with Asli Demirgüç-Kunt and Georgios Panos, Retirement System Risk Management: Implications of the New Regulatory Order, Olivia. Mitchell, Robert Maurer, and Jose Orszag, eds., Oxford University Press, 2016 • “Financial Inclusion in Africa: Obstacles and Opportunities” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Peter van Oudheusden, Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics: Policies and Practices, 2015 • “Banking in Developing Nations of Asia: Changes in Ownership Structure and Lending Over the Financial Crisis” with Maria Soledad Martinez-Peria and Bilal Zia, Oxford Handbook of Banking, Oxford University Press, Volume 2, 2015 • “Financial Inclusion in Africa: A Snapshot” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, in Financial Inclusion in Africa, Thouraya Triki and Issa Faye, eds, Africa Development Bank, 2013 • "Financial Crisis and Supply-Chain Financing" with Douglas Randall, in Trade Finance during the Great Trade Collapse, Jean-Pierre Chauffour and Mariem Malouche eds. World Bank, 2012 • “Access to Bank Financing and New Investment: Evidence From Europe” with Larry Chavis and Inessa Love, The Economics of Small Businesses: An International Perspective, Giorgio Calcagnini and Ilario Favaretto eds., Springer Publishing, 2012 • “International Differences in Entrepreneurial Finance” with Inessa Love and Larry Chavis, Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurial Finance, Douglas Cumming, ed., Oxford University Press, 2012 • "Entrepreneurial Finance in the Western Balkans" with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Georgios Panos, Banking the World: Empirical Foundations of Financial Inclusion, Robert J. Cull, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, and Jonathan Morduch, eds, MIT Press, 2012 • “The Impact of the Business Environment on the Business Creation Process” with Anat Lewin and Juan Manuel Quesada Delgado, Entrepreneurship in Economic Development, Wim Naude, ed., Palgrave MacMillan Press, 2011 • “Entrepreneurship and Firm Formation Across Countries” with Raphael Amit, and Mauro Guillen, NBER Volume on International Differences in Entrepreneurship, Joshua Lerner and Antoineete Shoar, eds., University of Chicago Press, 2010 • “Banking in Developing Nations of Asia: An Overview of Recent Changes in Ownership Structure” with Maria Soledad Martinez Peria, and Bilal Zia, The Oxford Handbook of Banking, Allen Berger, Phillip Molyneux, and John Wilson, eds., Oxford University Press, 2009 • “Female Employment, Entrepreneurs, and People’s Perceptions”, The Environment for Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa, The World Bank Bank, 2008 • “The Determinants of Global Factoring”, World Factoring Handbook 2005/06, BCR Publishing, 2006 • “Finance and Infrastructure”, 2005 World Development Report: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone, The World Bank, 2005 • "Relationship Lending in the Argentine Small Business Credit Market" with Allen Berger, Margaret Miller, and Gregg Udell, Credit Reporting Systems and the International Economy, MIT Press, 2003 • “Resolution of Bank Insolvency and Borrower Valuation in East Asia” with Simeon Djankov and Jan Jindra, The Changing Financial Industry Structure and Regulation: Bridging States, Countries, and Industries, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2000
SELECT POLICY PUBLICATIONS
• “The Role of Digital Financial Inclusion in Preparing for Older Age and Retirement” with Jake Hess, Prepared for World Bank Group and UNCDF Better Than Cash Alliance, 2019 • “Leveraging Digital Financial Solutions to Promote Formal Business Participation” with Margaret Miller and Jake Hess, Prepared for World Bank Group and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands 2019 • “Igniting SDG Progress Through Digital Financial Inclusion”, Prepared jointly with UNCDF Better Than Cash Alliance, 2018 • “Leveraging Financial Services for SMEs in Sustainable Global Value Chains” with Jake Hess, Flagship Report prepared for the IFC and G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion 2018 • “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Financial Inclusion” with Mayada El- Zoghbi and Jake Hess, Prepared for CGAP and the UNSGSA 2016 • “Digital Financial Solutions to Advance Women's Economic Participation” with The Better than Cash Alliance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Women’s World Banking, Prepared for the Turkish G20 Presidency 2016 • “Financial Literacy Around the World: Insights from the Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services Global Financial Literacy Survey” with Anna Lusardi, Prepared for Standard & Poors 2016 • “The Opportunities of Digitizing Payments: How Digitization of Payments, Transfers, and Remittances Contributes to the G20 Goals of Broad-Based Economic Growth, Financial Inclusion, and Women’s Economic Empowerment” with Dorothe Singer, Prepared for the Australian G20 Presidency 2014 • “Measuring Ownership and Use of Accounts” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Dorothe Singer, and Peter Van Oudheusden; Findex Note 14/1, 2015 • “Bringing the 2 Billion Unbanked into the Financial System” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Dorothe Singer, and Peter Van Oudheusden; Findex Note 14/2, 2015 • “Entrepreneurship around the World—Before, During, and After the Crisis” with Frederic Meunier and Laura Diniz, IFC SmartLessons, 2014 • “Islamic Finance” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Douglas Randall, Findex Note 12, 2012 • “Financial Inclusion and the Role of the Post Office” with Jose Anson, Alexandre Berthaud, and Dorothe Singer, Findex Note 11, 2012 • “Financial Inclusion of Youth” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Atisha Kumar, and Douglas Randall, Findex Note 10, 2012 • “Women and Financial Inclusion” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Dorothe Singer, Findex Note 9, 2012 • “Financial Inclusion in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Douglas Randall, Findex Note 7, 2012 • “Housing Finance” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt and Simon Walley, Findex Note 3, 2012 • “Savings, Credit, and Risk Management” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Findex Note 2, 2012 • “Accounts and Payments” with Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Findex Note 1, 2012 • “Entrepreneurship Database 2012—Entrepreneurship in the wake of the crisis” with Karim Belayahi and Douglas Randall, IFC Viewpoint 334, 2012 • “Registration Reforms—Measuring the Effect on New Firm Creation” with Inessa Love, IFC Viewpoint 333, 2012 • “Saving Viable Businesses”, IFC Viewpoint 328, 2011 • “New Firm Creation” with Inessa Love, IFC Viewpoint 324, 201 • “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Supply-Chain Financing” with Douglas Randall, Enterprise Surveys: Enterprise Note 13, 2010 • “International Differences in Entrepreneurial Finance” with Larry Chavis and Inessa Love, Enterprise Surveys: Enterprise Note 11, 2010 • “Entrepreneurship: New Data on Business Creation and How to Promote It” with Juan Manuel Quesada Delgado, IFC Viewpoint 316, 2007 • “Export Financing for SMEs: The Role of Factoring”, World Bank Trade Note 29, 2006 • “Entrepreneurship: How Much Does the Business Environment Matter?”, IFC Viewpoint 313, 2006 • “Financing Small and Medium-size Enterprises with Factoring: Global Growth in Factoring – and Its Potential in Eastern Europe” with Marie-Renee Bakker and Gregory Udell, Flagship Report, 2005
SELECT INVITED PRESENTATIONS
• Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2019 (Paris) • Council of Foreign Relations, 2019 (Washington, DC) • United Nations Committee on Financing for Development, 2019 (New York) • World Bank Civil Society Policy Forum, 2019 (Washington, DC) • Women’s World Banking Leadership Course, 2019 (Oxford) • G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Plenary, 2019 (Paris) • BSR Conference, “The Sustainable Supply Chain Finance Opportunity”, 2018 (New York) • Accion Caugus Forum, 2018 (New York) • Bloomberg Data for Good Exchange, 2018 (New York) • Shared Value Leadership Summit, 2018 (New York) • Women’s World Banking Making Finance Work for Women Summit, 2018 (New York) • World Economic Forum Financial Inclusion Working Group, 2018 (New York) • SIDA, Sweish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2018 (Stockholm) • FMO, Dutch Development Bank, 2018 (Hague) • GSM Association, 2018 (London) • Imperial College Business School, Brevan Howard Centre, 2018 (London) • Cass Business School Finance Research Seminar, 2018 (London) • European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), 2018 (London) • UKaid Department for International Development (DFID), 2018 (London) • Luxembourg House of Microfinance, 2018 (Luxembourg City) • Credit Suisse, 2018 (Singapore) • Bank Negara Malaysia, 2018 (Kuala Lumpur) • Bank Indonesia, 2018 (Jakarta) • Bank of Thailand, 2018 (Bangkok) • IFC-Boulder Institute of Microfinance, 2016-2018 (Turin) • ECOSOC70, United Nations Economic and Social Council Forum, 2017 (New York) • Meridian, “From Pro-Poor Policies to Biometrics and Demonetization—The Prominence of Women in the Digital Economy”, 2017 (Washington, DC) • IMF, “The Fourth IMF Statistical Forum”, 2016 (Washington, DC) • US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, “Progress & Purpose: Innovations in Digital Finance and Financial Capability”, 2016 (Washington, DC) • G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Forum, 2016 (Chengdu) • People’s Bank of China (PBOC), 2016 (Beijing) • G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Forum, 2016 (Chengdu) • USAID, 2016 (Washington, DC) • US Department of Treasury, Financial Inclusion Forum, 2015 (Washington, DC) • The Brookings Institute Launch of the Financial Digital Inclusion Project, 2015 (Washington, DC) • The Guardian Roundtable on Financial Inclusion, 2015 (Washington, DC) • Guardian Roundtable: How to Bank Billions—Exploring New Models, 2015 (Washington, DC) • Women’s World Banking Conference, 2015 (Berlin) • Gallup, Inc. The World’s Women, 2015 (Washington, DC) • The Launch of the S&P FinLit Survey, 2015 (Washington, DC) • Cornell Business School FinTech Conference, 2015 (New York) • University College London, “Achievements and Challenges for the Emerging Economies of Central Europe”, 2015 (London) • The United Nations Group of Friends, 2015 (New York) • Inclusive Finance India Summit, 2014 (Delhi) • UN Panel on Private and Blended Finance, 2014 (New York) • Responsible Finance Forum, 2014 (Perth) • Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago/Visa Financial Literacy Summit, 2014 (Chicago) • OAS Partnerships for Financial Inclusion in the Americas conference, 2014 (New York) • Women’s World Banking Conference, 2013 (Beirut) • G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Plenary meeting, 2013 (St Petersburg) • MasterCard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion, 2013 (Turin) • Child & Youth Finance International, 2013 (Istanbul) • IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, “Women and Finance”, 2013 (Washington, DC) • Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Partnership Forum, 2012 (Capetown) • Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference “Improving Efficiency of the National Strategies for Financial Literacy”, 2012 (St Petersburg) • Brookings Foundation, 2012 (Washington, DC) • IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, “Measuring Financial Inclusion”, 2012 (Washington, DC) • New America Foundation “Tracking Progress Towards Financial Access”, 2012 (Washington, DC) • 23d World Savings Bank Institute World Congress, 2012 (Marrakesh) • Gallup, Inc. “Measuring Global Financial Inclusion”, 2012 (Washington, DC) • RAND Behavioral Finance Forum 2011, 2011 (Washington, DC) • Northwestern Searle Center Conference on Entrepreneurship, 2011 (Chicago)
SELECT BLOGS
• World Bank, “Digital financial transactions matter for development “, 4/23/20 • Brookings, “Mobile phones are key to economic development. Are women missing out?”, 4/10/19 • World Economic Forum, “How this one change can help people fight poverty”, 8/2018 • World Bank, “Five ways Nigeria can realize mobile technology’s potential for the unbanked”, 06/2018 • World Bank, "New Global Findex data shows big opportunities for digital payments", 4/2018 • World Economic Forum, “Smaller businesses lack the financing to be sustainable. Here’s how we can help”, 11/2017 • Brookings Institution, "Can Islamic finance boost financial inclusion?", 6/2017 • World Bank, "What do we know about the link between financial inclusion and inclusive growth?", 6/2017 • LSE, "Real effects of electronic wage payments: Bangladeshi factory workers", 4/2017 • Better Than Cash Alliance, "Why women workers and managers prefer electronic wage payments in Bangladesh", 3/2017 • World Economic Forum, "People are escaping poverty with the help of digital finance. How should we measure that?", 12/2016 • World Economic Forum, "5 ways digital finance can help people escape poverty", 12/2016 • United Nations, "Financial inclusion and women's economic empowerment", 11/2016 • World Bank, "Financial inclusion has a big role to play in reaching the SDGs", 9/2016 • CGAP, "Financial inclusion has a big role to play in reaching the SDGs", 8/2016 • World Economic Forum, “5 ways digital finance can help people escape poverty”, 12/2016 • World Economic Forum, “People are escaping poverty with the help of digital finance. How should we measure that?”, 12/2016 • CGAP, “Financial Inclusion Has a Big Role to Play in Reaching the SDG’s”, 08/2016 • Gallup, "Financial inclusion and trust issues in Europe and Central Asia", 06/2016 • World Economic Forum, "How mobile phones are changing women's lives", 04/2016 • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "A phone of her own: How mobile access can change women's lives", 03/2016 • World Economic Forum, "Could the digital revolution get more women into work?", 03/2016 • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "Are bank accounts a key to happiness?", 01/2016 • World Economic Forum, "How having a bank account makes you happier", 01/2016 • CGAP, "Five ways digital payments can bring women into the workforce", 01/2016 • Gallup, "Digital financial services can help bring millions of women into the workforce", 11/2015 • World Bank Let's Talk Development Blog, "How digital financial services boost women's economic opportunities", 11/2015 • World Economic Forum, "Can digital financial services help close the gender gap?", 11/2015 • SME Finance Forum, "Impacting women's lives through digital payments ", 07/2015 • World Economic Forum, “Three trends on financial inclusion in China”, 06/2015 • Council on Foreign Relations, "Measuring opportunities for digital payments: The Global Findex 2014", 05/2015 • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "Global Findex: The main facts and figures you should know about financial inclusion around the world", 05/2015 • The Guardian, "Millions more have a bank account, but what is the impact on global poverty?" , 05/2015 • Better Than Cash Alliance, "Toward a cash-free world with the Global Findex", 05/2015 • World Economic Forum, "The main facts and figures about financial inclusion around the world", 05/2015 • Quartz, “Measuring opportunities for digital payments in the developing world”, 05/2015 • CGAP, "New accounts in China drive global financial inclusion figures", 05/2015 • CGAP, "Ten insights on financial inclusion from the Global Findex", 05/2015 • CGAP, "Global Findex: Income gap persists amid rising account ownership", 04/2015 • Gallup, "Number of bank account owners worldwide grows by 700 million", 04/2015 • Gallup, "Greater financial inclusion for the unbanked is possible", 04/2015 • Thomson Reuters Foundation, "The gender gap in financial inclusion and the 2014 Global Findex", 04/2015 • World Bank, "Updated Global Findex: 62% of adults have an account; 2 billion still unbanked", 04/2015
SELECT PRESS CITATIONS AND INTERVIEWS
• Over 40,000 press citations of Global Findex data • The Financial Times, May 2020, “Coronavirus boosts digital banking as Argentines lose fondness for cash” • The Guardian, July 2019, “Melinda Gates pushes G7 to close digital gender gap in Africa” • The Economist, April 2019, “Financial Inclusion in the Digital Age” • Financial Times, April 2019, “Special report: Financial Inclusion: Middle East & Africa” • Economist, May 2018, “Special report: Financial Inclusion” • New York Times, April 2018,"Cell phones, biometrics fuel jump in bank account ownership" • Wall Street Journal, April 2018,"How more than a billion people got access to financial services in less than a decade" • Bloomberg, April 2018,"Mobile phones are driving a surge in Africa bank accounts: chart" • American Banker, April 2018,"Digital banking's key trends: Demand, competition, mobile on the rise" • Quartz, April 2018,"Financial inclusion is improving around the world – but women are still missing out" • The New York Times, March 2018, “Will cash disappear?” • The Economist, November 2017, “Digital technology can make financial struggles easier to manage” • The Guardian, December 2015, “Saving for a rainy day-in alternative ways: part 1” • The Guardian, December 2015, “Saving for a rainy day-in alternative ways: part 2” • Financial Times, June 2015, "Latin Americans open more bank accounts but fail to use them" • Huffington Post, June 2015, "Closing the financial inclusion gender gap" • Forbes, June 2015, "New financial technologies offer big benefits to world's poor" • The Guardian, June 2015, "Financial inclusion in Latin America: giving the people what they need" • The Guardian, May 2015, "Robbed of opportunity: 460 million east Asians have no bank account" • The Guardian, May 2015, "The bank, the boss, your parents: global borrowing trends mapped" • Huffington Post, May 2015, "Findex: Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the leading frontier of financial inclusion" • Huffington Post, May 2015, "How the Internet of everything is helping 'unbanked' citizens around the world" • The Economist, April 2015, "Financial exclusion" • Wall Street Journal, April 2015, "Financial inclusion: Rural banking surges in China" • Wall Street Journal, April 2015, "Gender gap persists for bank account owners" • New York Times, April 2015, "More people worldwide are opening bank accounts" • Financial Times, April 2015, "More than 700m people leave ranks of the unbanked" • Financial Times, April 2015, "UK banks inclusive, but service quality poor: World Bank" • The BBC, April 2015, "Two billion adults still have no access to banking" • The New Yorker, April 2015, "The slow global spread of savings accounts" • The Guardian, April 2015, "Surprising results from banking in the developing world" • Huffington Post, April 2015, "More people in the developing world are getting bank accounts, but there's an asterisk on that progress" • FiveThirtyEight, April 2015, "Mobile phones are revolutionizing personal finance in Sub-Saharan Africa" • Bloomberg Business, April 2015, "The cash-only world: two billion people and shrinking fast" • BuzzFeed, April 2015, "Nowhere in the world uses mobile banking as much as Africa" • Vox, April 2015, "New report finds one more way the US is a leader in economic inequality" • Xinhua News Agency, April 2015, "2 billion adults worldwide without bank account despite rapid growth of account ownership: poll" • The Economist, November 2014, “A Phoneful of Dollars” • The Wall Street Journal MoneyBeat, November 2014, “World’s ‘Unbanked’ En Route to Financial Inclusion With Mobile Money” • Financial Times, July 2014, “Developing World Blazes Trail for 2.5bn With No Banking Access” • The Economist, February 2013, “Finance and the American Poor” • BBC Radio, October 2012, “Expanding Financial Inclusion” • Financial Times, June 2012, “The Unbanked: Financial Crisis Creates Greater Need for Basic Services” • NYTimes.com, April 2012, “The World’s Unbanked Poor” • The Economist, April 2012, “Mobile Money in Africa” • Business Week, April 2012, “Why Half the World Doesn’t Have Bank Accounts” • Economist.com, April 2012, “The Poor are Different” • CNN.com, April 2012, “World Bank: 75% of Poor Don’t Have Bank Accounts” • The Economist Daily Chart, April 2012, “The Bank of SMS” • United Nations Radio, April 2012, “Almost 2.5 Billion People are Excluded from Formal Banking” • LA Times, April 2012, “Mobile Money a ‘Bright Spot’ for Billions Lacking Bank Accounts” • Radio Free Europe, August 2011, “Entrepreneurial Activity Is A Key To Success But Women Face Special Obstacles” • Economic Commentary, March 2011, “The Great Recession’s Effect on Entrepreneurship” • US Fed News, November 2010, “World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Team Up to Improve Financial Data Collection” • NYTimes.com, October 2009, “An Easy Way to Encourage Entrepreneurship” • Market Wire, November 2008, “New Survey Shows That a Good Regulatory Environment Can Boost Entrepreneurial Activity in Developing Countries” • Forbes.com, November 2007, “A Little Bit of Government Can Go A Long Way” • The Asian Wall Street Journal, April 2005, “Your Money – Set For Life: Keeping Your Good Name” • National Business Review, August 2005, “Factoring and Cashflow Management: A Special Review Getting Exporters to Global Markets”