The geographic distance between a household and financial institutions may constitute a significant obstacle to achieving the benefits of modern financial institutions. We measure the impact of improved distance-related access to microcredits in Uzbekistan. Residents living closer to microfinance institutions are propensity score matched to those further away using both household and village characteristics. Households located closer to microfinance institutions have larger businesses in terms of income, profits and employees than similar households located further away. Similarly, they spend more on most forms of consumption and have greater savings.

The majority of microfinance impact studies focus on finding their effect on a specific group of beneficiaries, in contrast we aim to identify the impact on whole economies (economic growth, and financial sector development and reductions in income inequalities), which is an important policy concern, not previously addressed. To address heterogeneity across countries, we group countries into three broad clusters delineated by a set of macro-institutional determinants. We find long-term evidence of a significant ability of microfinance to affect broader economies. Moreover, the impact and dynamics differ substantially by macro-institutional environment; the microfinance effect is more pronounced in weaker environments.

Project management (PM) is an approach for planning and implementing a project traditionally used in the business world. In this case study, we demonstrate the application of the PM approach for managing data collection in academic research; and specifically using qualitative interviews we conducted about the closure of microfinance institutions. We focus on the emerging need for adaptive strategies to address a world in lockdown and continuous research. PM takes place in stages, starting with planning, implementation, and monitoring. We show how understanding the concepts of PM, such as determining the scope of the project, determining all stakeholders, planning responsibilities, and clearly laying them out and monitoring progress can be done not only in research, but also as a strong analytical tool. As the research in this case study was conducted amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, online technologies played an important role in maintaining the effectiveness of PM tools in the research.