NORC is working with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and XacBank, a local micro-finance institution in Mongolia, to assess the effectiveness of models of micro-finance lending.  The project focuses on poor women living in rural villages (soums) to whom micro-credits will be offered by XacBank. The evaluation will test the effects of both group-level and individual-level lending on enterprise formation, investment, intra-group transfers, and other behaviors that may be affected by access to credit.

NORC has completed the first phase of the project, which consisted of designing and pilot testing the in-person paper-and-pencil (PAPI) survey of consumption patterns and living standards and conducting the baseline survey with over 1,100 women.  A follow-up round of the survey is planned for spring 2009.