Table 1.

Summary of selected studies

Date	Study name	Author(s)	Outcomes	Country	Data and sample	Key exposure variables	Financing intervention/program	Empirical strategy used	Key findings
2011	Microcredit, family planning programs, and contraceptive behavior: evidence from a field experiment in Ethiopia	Desai and Tarozzi	− Contraceptive use − Fertility	Ethiopia	− 6,440 households in 356 villages in 133 peasant association (PA) areas − Surveys in 2003 and 2006 − Same villages but different households in 2006 survey	− Four‐arm randomized controlled trial at PA level after baseline: 1) Credit/loan services 2) Family planning services 3) Both interventions 4) control group	Credit programs targeting poor and women with group repayment. Family planning program involves home visits and provision of pills and condoms.	Randomized control trial at the PA level. Estimates of changes in outcomes between 2003 and 2006 in treatment areas relative to control area. Intention to treat analysis at PA level.	No statistically significant effects on contraceptive use or fertility
2009	Extending social insurance to informal sector workers in Nicaragua via microfinance institutions: Results from a randomized evaluation	Hatt, Thornton, Magnoni, and Islam	− Contraceptive use − Contraceptive method − Insurance coverage − Health care use	Nicaragua	− 2,608 male and female vendors aged 18–54 − Baseline 2007 − Follow up 2008	− Multi‐arm randomized trial: 1) insurance brochure; 2) On the spot enrollment 3)six‐month insurance subsidy with instructions to sign up with insurer 4) six‐month subsidy with instructions to sign up at microfinance provider 5) six‐month subsidy with on the spot enrollment	− Health insurance covering services such as antenatal care, delivery, family planning	− Intention to treat estimates of random assignment on health insurance enrollment. Comparison of health care use and contraceptive use in insured versus not‐insured groups in follow up.	Significant effect in raising health insurance coverage from 1 percent to over 32 percent. No significant effect on contraceptive use or health care use. Shift of attendance to facilities covered by insurance.
2006	Empowering women with micro finance: evidence from Bangladesh	Pitt, Mark, Khandker, and Cartwright	− Contraceptive use by husbands − Discussion of family planning with husband − Women's empowerment	Bangladesh	− 1,798 households from 27 program areas and 5 non‐program areas. Survey in 1998–1999	− Being in a treatment area with access to microfinance and being eligible for microfinance (land ownership less than 0.5 acres)	− Provides microfinance to women in eligible households	− Difference‐in‐differences model comparing the outcome for eligible women in treatment area with eligible women in non‐treatment area relative to difference in non‐eligible women between treatment and non‐treatment areas.	No significant effect on husband's use of male family planning methods. Significantly increased discussion of fertility and family planning with husband and women's empowerment.
2006	Microfinance programs and contraceptive use: Evidence from Indonesia	Buttenheim	− Contraceptive use − Women's empowerment	Indonesia	− Longitudinal data − Cluster random sample of women. − Surveys in 1993, 1997, 2000 − Survey of married women aged 15–39: 3,432 from 1993, 3,456 from 1997, 3,765 from 2000.	− Cluster has microfinance program	− Government and NGO‐sponsored programs that offer short‐term credit and loans. Not targeted at women except for KUKESRA project.	− Difference‐in‐differences model looking at change over time in clusters that introduce microfinance program relative to comparison cluster that does not receive the program.	No effect on contraceptive prevalence overall but evidence that access to microfinance increases contraceptive use in women who do not want more children (odds ratio 1.201, p value 0.058) but lowers it in women who do want more children (odds ratio 0.732, p value 0.004).