Anca Alecsandru, a doctoral student in the Department of Economics at LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, has been awarded a grant by the Davidson Data Center and Network to perform data collection from one or more countries with transition economies.

Alecsandru will examine Romania’s microfinance industry and analyze the changes borrowers are experiencing in the market. Microfinance refers to providing financial services, such as loans and credit lines, to citizens too poor to qualify for traditional financial services. The practice is becoming increasingly popular in mainstream markets as a means to aid impoverished people.

The Davidson Data Center and Network is an extensive data source for information about transition and emerging markets and is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.