The paper reviews attempts to provide insurance against risks afflicting the poorest. It presents empirical evidence on the impact of different types of microinsurance, and recommends the idea of ‘quasi-insurance’—the provision of insurance functions through a non-insurance route—where institutional or regulatory constraints prevent insurance proper from being offered. The paper argues that microinsurance so far has been somewhat supply-driven rather than driven by effective demand, especially from the poorest, and thus the insurance products which would benefit the poorest are still at a limited stage of development. Institutional innovations and new insurance products therefore deserve promotion.
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Paper provided by United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs in its series Working Papers with number
84.