The Journal of Applied Economy: Special Issue on Micro Insurance

The work that Karl Muth and Jennifer F. Helgeson have conducted in, “Stochastic Environments as Measurement Tools: A New Approach”, illustrates that people who lack even basic literacy can, in some ways, be financially literate. The foremost contribution that the Muth-Helgeson Survey Tool (MHST) makes is a challenge to the attitude in the banking, insurance and finance industries that people in developing countries are not capable of interacting with complex financial instruments. Muth and Helgeson are aware of the enormous impact that financial instruments, particularly insurance, can have in developing countries, particularly farmers. Providing farmers with long-term stability, which insurance is an essential component of, is central to building stable countries, not the least because of food-security and the importance of agriculture to sub- Saharan countries. It is evident from the work the Grameen bank did and continues to do with micro-finance that financial products can have a huge impact on poverty reduction. The work that Muth and Helgeson have done, in this research, will be a catalyst for similar measures in the insurance field.