http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/ Knowledge@Wharton is an online resource that offers the latest business insights, information, and research from a variety of sources. Content includes analysis of current business trends, interviews with industry leaders and faculty, articles based on the most recent business research, book reviews, conference and seminar reports, and links to other websites. en-us Copyright (c) 2012 The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/no_pic.gif http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/ 125 45 Wharton Faculty Research Finance and Investment http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2626&source=rss For years, researchers have tried to determine if mutual fund investors pay attention to -- or simply ignore -- fees when choosing where to put their money. Recent policy experimentation in the Indian mutual funds market provided data that sheds light on this question. Wharton professor Santosh Anagol and PhD student Hoikwang Kim analyze what happened, finding that most investors don't read the fine print on fees when choosing a fund -- a decision that often ends up hurting them financially. Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:15:08 EST Law and Public Policy http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2391&source=rss For three decades, microfinance institutions have given out small loans to the world's poor -- mostly women -- and amassed thousands of case studies showing that the loans help alleviate poverty, improve health, increase education and promote women's empowerment. Skeptics, however, have argued there is not enough hard data to prove that microfinance transforms lives on a large scale, and they have called for more rigorous analysis. Two recent studies providing some of that analysis have sparked an intense debate over how and under what conditions the effects of microfinance can be calculated. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:13:30 EST Insurance and Pensions http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2346&source=rss Unlike micro lending -- the better-known side of micro finance -- micro insurance has been a hard sell among the world's poor. The reasons why include a lack of understanding of how insurance products work, a general reticence on the part of poor populations to part with their meager financial resources, badly designed products and a shortage of localized risk management knowledge among providers. What needs to happen for micro insurance to prove that it can be both socially beneficial and economically viable? Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:48:04 EST