The main objective of the proposal is to explore the linkages between rural finance and rural employment - including diversification and migration - with a view to contributing to the ongoing discussions and interventions in the fields of rural development and poverty and vulnerability reduction. Microfinance services are expected to contribute to rural development and poverty/vulnerability reduction. Emergency loans, savings and micro-insurance are expected to mitigate vulnerability. Microcredit is expected to strengthen local rural employment (diversification, self-employment, wage labor). Remittances are expected to improve the conditions of migration. While microfinance has been given much attention and resources by policymakers and donors, there are still controversies about whether and under which conditions rural microfinance can hold its promises.

The proposal relies on comparative case studies conducted in three countries - India, Mexico and Madagascar – which exhibit both common and distinctive features regarding rural finance and rural employment issues. It builds on a sound bulk of previous work conducted by the members of the team in the three countries, and will allow for comprehensive gathering of original data, through collaborations with national research institutions and national microfinance practitioners.

From a methodological perspective, the proposal intends to overcome some common shortcomings of microfinance impact studies:
 by combining economic and anthropological approaches : This pluridisciplinary approach will be adopted from the onset, not only with the purpose to bring together complementary analyses of a common research object, but also with the purpose to jointly build a common analysis framework.
 by considering several levels of analysis : individuals/households, microfinance institutions, regions.

The project work plan is divided into six overlapping and interacting activities over a period of 3 years and six main corresponding phases (length of periods are of course approximate, and will defined more precisely in phase 1):
 Phase 1: Redefinition of the project and precision of the sub-objectives, Capitalisation, Contextualisation, Planning, 6 months – M1 – M6

 Phase 2: Design of a common methodology and vocabulary, Preliminary Field work (qualitative only), 6 months: M5-M11
 Phase 3: Empirical investigations (qualitative and quantitative), 18 months : M9-M26
 Phase 4: Data analysis (per thematic and per country), 24 months: M12-M36
 Phase 5: Transversal analysis and comparison – 6 months: M28-M36
 Phase 6: Scientific valorisation – will start from the second WP (M12) and of course, will continue in the following years

Three “project workshops” (PW), three “national workshops” in each country (NW), and a final seminar (FS) will be organised.
All the researchers will attend the project workshop (organised in France for budgetary reasons). As for the national workshops, in addition to the researchers involved in that particular country, the partners (microfinance practitioners) will be invited. At the end, an international seminar will be organised, as a first mean to valorise the results.

The project will lead to the following expected results:
 Production and dissemination of original empirical results through scientific publications.
 A contribution to the revisiting of theoretical and development approaches and concepts (rural employment and vulnerability; money, debt and finance; governance, participation and social responsibility, etc.).
 A methodological feedback on the combination of economics and anthropology, the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the comparative perspective.
 Operational outputs for microfinance practitioners in order to improve the quality of services.
 A contribution to the public debate around microfinance and rural development.