Publications

2008
Working Paper

Fixing Market Failures or Fixing Elections? Agricultural Credit in India

This paper integrates theories of political budget cycles with theories of tactical electoral redistribution to test for political capture in a novel way. Studying banks in India, I find that government-owned bank lending tracks the electoral cycle, with agricultural... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Political Elections; State Ownership; Banking Industry; India

May 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

SKS Microfinance

By: Shawn A. Cole and Theresa Chen

Vikram Akula, CEO of SKS Microfinance, seeks a venture capital investment to fund his firm. SKS, one of the largest and fastest growing microfinance institutions in India, is a profitable, for-profit institution with a social mission. In what is one of the first... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Venture Capital; Microfinance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Valuation; Financial Services Industry; India

2008
Working Paper

Where Does It Go? Spending by the Financially Constrained

By: Shawn A. Cole, John Thompson and Peter Tufano

In this paper, we analyze the spending decisions of over 1.5 million Americans who vary in their degree of revealed credit constraints. Specifically, we analyze how these Americans spend their income tax refunds, using transaction-level data from a stored-value card... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Credit; Personal Finance; Spending; Taxation; Consumer Behavior; United States

October 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

First National Bank's Golden Opportunity

By: Shawn A. Cole, Peter Tufano, Daniel Schneider and Daryl Collins

Executives at First National Bank in South Africa are considering whether to launch a potentially exciting, but rather unorthodox, new savings product. Instead of paying interest, this product gives depositors the chance to win large cash prizes each month. Michael... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Banks and Banking; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Banking Industry; South Africa

September 2007
Teaching Note

BASIX (TN)

Teaching note to (207-099) and (207-108). View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Insurance Industry

August 2007
Article

Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India

By: A. Banerjee, Shawn A. Cole, E. Duflo and L. Linden

This paper presents the results of two randomized experiments conducted in schools in urban India. A remedial education program hired young women to teach students lagging behind in basic literacy and numeracy skills. It increased average test scores of all children in... View Details

Keywords: Literacy; Teaching; Performance Improvement; Competency and Skills; India

Find at Harvard

February 2007
Background Note

BASIX Simulation Model

By: Peter Tufano and Shawn A. Cole

Explains how to use Crystal Ball to simulate the insurance decision in the BASIX case. View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Business Model; Valuation; Decisions; Finance; Insurance Industry

February 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

BASIX

By: Shawn A. 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; Insurance; Risk Management; Banking Industry; India

December 2005
Article

Capitalism and Freedom: Slavery and Manumission in Louisiana, 1725-1820

Keywords: Economic Systems; Society; Louisiana

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2005
Chapter

Bank Financing in India

By: Shawn A. Cole, A. Banerjee and E. Duflo

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry; India

2004
Chapter

Banking Reform in India

By: Shawn A. Cole, A. Banerjee and E. Duflo

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Developing Countries and Economies; Banking Industry; India

Teaching Interest

Development Economics (PhD)

This course, intended for second-year PhD students in economics and related fields, is taught by Michael Kremer, Phillippe Aghion, and Shawn Cole.

Part I (Kremer) of the course will cover macro-economic topics including aggregate and non-aggregate growth... View Details

Teaching Interest

Executive Education

Shawn Cole regularly teaches executive education. He has taught in the ACCION microfinance in the HBS-ACCION Microfinance Program on Strategic Leadership, View Details

Teaching Interest

Investing: Risk, Return and Impact (MBA)