Policy Research Working Paper                      8483




           The Role of Technical Assistance
           in Expanding Access to Finance
                               Miriam Bruhn
                                Rekha Reddy
                             Claudia Ruiz Ortega




Development Economics
Development Research Group
June 2018
Policy Research Working Paper 8483


  Abstract
 This paper links the literatures on technical assis-                               difference-in-differences approach, the analysis shows that
 tance and access to finance by examining a Mexican                                 the program improved NBFIs’ efficiency, enabling them
 program that provided capacity-building grants to                                  to obtain more funding from private sources and leading
 nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs) serving micro,                              to a 79 percent increase in lending. The findings suggest
 small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Using ten                                   that technical assistance initiatives can strengthen NBFIs’
 years of data from 81 credit unions and a staggered                                ability to expand credit access for underserved MSMEs.




  This paper is a product of the Development Research Group, Development Economics. It is part of a larger effort by the
  World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the
  world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at http://www.worldbank.org/research. The authors
  may be contacted at mbruhn@worldbank.org, rreddy5@worldbank.org and cruizortega@worldbank.org.




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