MR Microinsurance_2012_03_29.indd - International Labour ...

82 Emerging issues
this direction. Second, evaluations of a broader variety and geographical distribution
of microinsurance products are required. Third, studies must examine the
full range of microinsurance’s theoretical effects, together with comparative
issues that remain unexplored. These include investigating how different microinsurance
schemes compare under a variety of conditions, and how they fare in
comparison to or in combination with other risk-mitigating strategies such as
informal coping mechanisms. Fourth, improved and standard outcome indicators
are needed because not all of the commonly cited effects in the evaluation
literature presently communicate useful information on impact. Besides being
less ambiguous, newly developed indicators must likewise be widely adopted to
facilitate the comparability of findings and by extension the strength of subsequent
systematic reviews. The Microinsurance Network’s Impact Working
Group is developing these indicators and will disseminate them in a handbook
for performing microinsurance impact assessments (Impact Working Group of
the Microinsurance Network 2011a).
By facilitating the creation and distribution of accurate information on the
impact of microinsurance, these steps will enable development practitioners to
successfully enable low-income people in poor countries to manage risks and
thus safeguard or increase their incomes and standards of living.