Microfinance and Poverty


Book Description




A Research Agenda for Financial Inclusion and Microfinance


Book Description

How can financial services, such as credit, deposit accounts, financial transfers, and insurance be provided to people in need? This challenging and complex issue has been a topic of interest for the international aid community for decades. Drawing on renowned experts in microfinance and financial inclusion, this Research Agenda sheds much-needed light on this multifaceted challenge and points the way ahead for future research.




Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access


Book Description

Microcredit seeks to promote business growth and improve well-being by expanding access to credit. We use a field experiment and follow-up survey to measure impacts of a credit expansion for microentrepreneurs in Manila. The effects are diffuse, heterogeneous, and surprising. Although there is some evidence that profits increase, the mechanism seems to be that businesses shrink by shedding unproductive workers. Overall, borrowing households substitute away from labor (in both family and outside businesses), and into education. We also find substitution away from formal insurance, along with increases in access to informal risk-sharing mechanisms. Our treatment effects are stronger for groups that are not typically targeted by microlenders: male and higher-income entrepreneurs. In all, our results suggest that microcredit works broadly through risk management and investment at the household level, rather than directly through the targeted businesses.




Microenterprise Credit


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Evaluating the Impact of Development Projects on Poverty


Book Description

Despite the billions of dollars spent on development assistance each year, there is still very little known about the actual impact of projects on the poor. There is broad evidence on the benefits of economic growth, investments in human capital, and the provision of safety nets for the poor. But for a specific program or project in a given country, is the intervention producing the intended benefits and what was the overall impact on the population? Could the program or project be better designed to achieve the intended outcomes? Are resources being spent efficiently? These are the types of questions that can only be answered through an impact evaluation, an approach which measures the outcomes of a program intervention in isolation of other possible factors.This handbook seeks to provide project managers and policy analysts with the tools needed for evaluating project impact. It is aimed at readers with a general knowledge of statistics. For some of the more in-depth statistical methods discussed, the reader is referred to the technical literature on the topic. Chapter 1 presents an overview of concepts and methods. Chapter 2 discusses key steps and related issues to consider in implementation. Chapter 3 illustrates various analytical techniques through a case study. Chapter 4 includes a discussion of lessons learned from a rich set of 'good practice' evaluations of poverty projects which have been reviewed for this handbook.




The Rise and Fall of Global Microcredit


Book Description

In the mid-1980s the international development community helped launch what was to quickly become one of the most popular poverty reduction and local economic development policies of all time. Microcredit, the system of disbursing tiny micro-loans to the poor to help them to establish their own income-generating activities, was initially highly praised and some were even led to believe that it would end poverty as we know it. But in recent years the microcredit model has been subject to growing scrutiny and often intense criticism. The Rise and Fall of Global Microcredit shines a light on many of the fundamental problems surrounding microcredit, in particular, the short- and long-term impacts of dramatically rising levels of microdebt. Developed in collaboration with UNCTAD, this book covers the general policy implications of adverse microcredit impacts, as well as gathering together country-specific case studies from around the world to illustrate the real dynamics, incentives and end results. Lively and provocative, The Rise and Fall of Global Microcredit is an accessible guide for students, academics, policymakers and development professionals alike.




International Journal of Finance and Policy Analysis: Volume 3, Number 1


Book Description

CONTENTS: 1. Measuring Changes in Liquidity Using the Bid-offer Price Proxy: Determinants of Liquidity in the United Kingdom Gilt Market by Moorad Choudhry 2. Impact of Electronic Tax Registers on VAT Compliance: A Study of Kenyan Private Business Firms by I. K. Naibei and E. M. Siringi 3. Foreign Direct Investment Inflows, Merchandize Trade and Economic Growth in India: An Analytical Study by Mousumi Bhattacharya 4. Extension of Technology Adoption Model (TAM) Intention to Use Internet Banking: Evidence from India by V.V.Ravi Kumar, S.K. Bose and P.V.Raghavan 5. Assessment of the Impact of Financial Risk and Market Variables on Expert Investment Preferences in Colombo Stock Exchange by M. M. Fonseka, A.M.T.P. Athauda and G. L. Tian 6. Assessing the Impact of Microfinance Institutions on Financial Development within the West African Monetary and Economic Union by Kanfitine Lare-Lantone 7. Growth of Banking Sector in the Sultanate of Oman: An Analysis by Imran Azad, A.H.M. Saifullah Sadi and Mohd. Faiyaz Click here to download full PDF edition of this issue (free limited time open access) Go to Journal Homepage Go to Series editor website About the Journal The International Journal of Finance and Policy Analysis (IJFPA) aims to publish high-quality papers that are of interest to academicians and practitioners. IJFPA is peer-reviewed and publishes both applied and theoretical papers bi-annually. The journal only considers original manuscripts for publication. IJFPA welcomes contributions in the areas of corporate finance, investments, corporate governance, international finance, financial markets & institutions, credit analysis, financial planning, financial risk management, behavioural finance, financial services management, capital structure, international financial market linkages, portfolio management, financial analysis, financial market regulations, and international banking. Other papers that might be of interest to the readership will be considered for publication. The readership of IJFPA includes academics, professionals, scholars, practitioners, and policy analysts.