Determinants of Microinsurance Adoption in Micro-Enterprise Settings

Abstract

This paper scrutinizes the determinants modeling micro-enterprise’s engagement with microinsurance, highlighting how micro-entrepreneurs navigate risk under conditions of economic vulnerability. The study demonstrates that microinsurance functions as a financial arrangement and as an institutional presence shaping decision-making and future expectations, situating adoption within broader structures of constraint and possibility. Rooted in the anthropology of hope  (Appadurai, A. , 2004) and the theory of aspirations (Ray, D., 2006), the study delves into microinsurance within histories of mutual aid, solidarity, and development finance. The findings illustrate that entrenching microinsurance within credit systems, mobile-service ecosystems, or business-related social rituals, such as funeral associations, provides modest but meaningful security that shapes the emotional contours of entrepreneurial life. These mechanisms enable MSEs to access protection and envision possibilities for resilience. The paper suggests that microinsurance maneuvers at the intersection of economic volatility, moral frameworks, and aspirational dynamics. By reshaping economic citizenship and assigning individuals responsibility for managing vulnerability, microinsurance becomes embedded within a broader politics of aspiration (Appadurai, A. , 2004); (Ray, D., 2006), where futures are imagined, negotiated, and quietly secured.