Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of credit access on income and multidimensional poverty by providing an econometric framework. Design/methodology/approach The study is conducted in Assam, India and uses a quasi-experiment design to gather primary data. Econometric tools like Heckit procedure, Tobit selection equation and probit model are used for empirical purpose. Findings The paper finds that the level of individual welfare is influenced by equivalent factors. In addition, the study observes a larger incidence of poverty among treatment households of semiformal and informal borrowers. The study argues that formal sources are more effective in reducing the number of poor households by lifting those who are closest to the poverty line. Research limitations/implications The study indicates a vicious circle of income and multidimensional poverty among semiformal and informal borrowers. By tradition, as rural Assam gets a dominant role of traditional community-based financial institutions, we should develop the banking structure by involving these institutions. The study excludes other probable explanatory variables while evaluating the impact of credit access on income and multidimensional poverty, and this limitation is left to future research. Originality/value This is probably the first empirical paper in Assam showing the impact of credit access on multidimensional poverty by adjusting for endogeneity and selection bias.

The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) promotes evidence-informed, equitable, inclusive and sustainable development. We support the generation and effective use of highquality evidence to inform decision-making and improve the lives of people living in poverty in low-and middle-income countries. We provide guidance and support to produce, synthesise and quality assure evidence of what works, for whom, how, why and at what cost.3ie impact evaluations 3ie-supported impact evaluations assess the difference a development intervention has made to social and economic outcomes. 3ie is committed to funding rigorous evaluations that include a theory-based design and that use the most appropriate mix of methods to capture outcomes and are useful in complex development contexts. About this report3ie accepted the final version of the report, Impacts of electronic case management systems on court congestion in the Philippines, as partial fulfilment of requirements under grant PWP.03.SC.IE awarded through Country Policy Window -Philippines. The content has been copy-edited and formatted for publication by 3ie.The 3ie technical quality assurance team for this report comprises Stuti Tripathi, Rosaine Yegbemey, Tara Kaul, Kirthi V Rao, Sayak Khatua, an anonymous external impact evaluation design expert reviewer and an anonymous external sector expert reviewer, with overall technical supervision by Marie Gaarder and Emmanuel Jimenez. The statistical analysis code used in generating the results in this study is available on 3ie's Harvard Dataverse. We are unable to make the datasets publicly available due to confidentiality requirements agreed between the Supreme Court of the Philippines, 3ie and the Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). However, 3ie has reviewed and quality assured replication for datasets used in this evaluation. The 3ie editorial production team for this report comprises

The Self-help Group Bank Linkage Programme (SHG-BLP) is now a major global microfinance programme in India with 8.7 million SHGs with deposit of over `195,000 million and annual loan offtake of more than `470,000 million. However, group sustainability is having a wider concern among donor agencies, practitioners, policymakers and academicians to achieve persistent benefit from SHGs in financial intermediation. The present study made an attempt to examine the status of group sustainability with the help of multidimensional sustainability index of SHGs (MDSI SHG) by combining organizational, managerial and financial indicators of 60 SHGs in Assam. It was found that 95 per cent of SHGs positioned within the range of 'high' and 'moderate' MDSI SHG status and, therefore, may maintain their function well over a long period of time. Thus, the study recommends for enlargement of the scope of semiformal financial institutions (in our study: SHGs) in rural areas of Assam only for income-generating activities with proper market linkages. There is a scope to regenerate and validate the findings using relatively large sample size with SHGs of varied socioeconomic background.