Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(120,149)
- Faculty Publications (119)
- January 2013
- Article
Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India
By: Shawn A. Cole, Xavier Gine, Jeremy Tobacman, Petia Topalova, Robert M. Townsend and James Vickery
Why do many households remain exposed to large exogenous sources of non-systematic income risk? We use a series of randomized field experiments in rural India to test the importance of price and non-price factors in the adoption of an innovative rainfall insurance... View Details
- November 2, 2012
- Editorial
Natural Disasters Hurt Incumbents
By: Shawn A. Cole, Andrew Healy and Eric Werker
- September 2012
- Case
BASIX (Abridged)
By: Shawn Cole and Peter Tufano
BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah,... View Details
Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Microfinance; Household; Risk Management; Insurance; Banking Industry; India
- 2012
- Article
Do Voters Demand Responsive Governments? Evidence from Indian Disaster Relief
By: Shawn Cole, Andrew Healy and Eric Werker
Using rainfall, public relief, and election data from India, we examine how governments respond to adverse shocks and how voters react to these responses. The data show that voters punish the incumbent party for weather events beyond its control. However, fewer voters... View Details
- 2012
- Chapter
Evidence from the Firm: A New Approach to Understanding Corruption
By: Shawn A. Cole and Anh Tran
Due to its clandestine nature, most of what we understand about corruption comes from survey evidence and self-reported perceptions of corruption: this limits both the range of questions that can be asked and the precision of answers that can be provided. This chapter... View Details
- December 2011
- Article
Prices or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?
By: Shawn A. Cole, Thomas Sampson and Bilal Zia
Financial development is critical for growth, but its micro-determinants are not well understood. We test leading theories of low demand for financial services in emerging markets, combining novel survey evidence from Indonesia and India with a field experiment. We... View Details
- November 2011 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
China Life: Micro Insurance for the Poor
By: Shawn Cole and Lilei Xu
China Life must decide whether to accept the government's "invitation" to develop a microinsurance product for the rural poor. Can it be done profitably? View Details
- October 2011 (Revised March 2015)
- Case
SKS and the AP Microfinance Crisis
By: Shawn Cole and Yannick Saleman
SKS, India's leading microfinance firm, is challenged when politicians declaim microfinance as exploitation of the poor and severely restrict business practices. View Details
- Article
Marketing Complex Financial Products in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Rainfall Insurance in India
By: Sarthak Gaurav, Shawn A. Cole and Jeremy Tobacman
Recent financial liberalization in emerging economies has led to the rapid introduction of new financial products. Lack of experience with financial products, low levels of education, and low financial literacy may slow adoption of these products. This article reports... View Details
- April 2011 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
BANEX and the No Pago Movement (A)
By: Shawn Cole and Baily Blair Kempner
This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to continue investing in a Bolivian microfinance bank that is suffering financial distress. View Details
- April 2011 (Revised March 2013)
- Supplement
BANEX and the No Pago Movement (B)
By: Shawn Cole and Baily Blair Kempner
This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to continue investing in a Bolivian microfinance bank that is suffering financial distress. View Details
- 2010
- Other Unpublished Work
Is High School the Right Time to Teach Self-control? The Effect of Financial Education and Mathematics Courses on Savings Behavior
By: Shawn A. Cole and Gauri Kartini Shastry
Household financial behavior affects household welfare and the economy at large. Yet our understanding of how to improve financial decisions is limited. Recent literature and policy attention have focused on financial education, for example, in high school. We use... View Details
- April 2009
- Teaching Note
UBS and Auction Rate Securities (TN) (A), (B), and (C)
By: Shawn A. Cole, Daniel Baird Bergstresser and Siddharth Bhaskar Shenai
Teaching Note for [209119], [209131], and [209135]. View Details
Keywords: Financial Services Industry
- April 2009
- Teaching Note
First National Bank's Golden Opportunity (TN)
By: Shawn A. Cole
Teaching Note for [208072]. View Details
- April 2009
- Teaching Note
SKS Microfinance (TN)
By: Shawn A. Cole
Teaching Note for [208137]. View Details
- 2009
- Working Paper
Prices or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?
By: Shawn A. Cole, Thomas Sampson and Bilal Zia
Financial development is critical for growth, but its micro-determinants are not well understood. We test leading theories of low demand for financial services in emerging markets, combining novel survey evidence from Indonesia and India with a field experiment. We... View Details
- March 2009 (Revised September 2011)
- Case
UBS and Auction Rate Securities (A)
By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Shawn A. Cole and Siddharth Bhaskar Shenai
UBS, a global financial services company, must decide whether to continue to support the market for Auction Rate Securities in the face of a growing financial crisis. These instruments, underwritten by UBS, were marketed to clients as highly liquid and safe... View Details
- March 2009 (Revised October 2011)
- Supplement
UBS and Auction Rate Securities (B)
By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Shawn A. Cole and Siddharth Bhaskar Shenai
Supplement to 209119 View Details
Keywords: Debt Securities