Microfinance Handbook

Microfinance Handbook
Author: Joanna Ledgerwood
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 304
Release: 1998-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821384317

The purpose of the 'Microfinance Handbook' is to bring together in a single source guiding principles and tools that will promote sustainable microfinance and create viable institutions.

The Global Findex Database 2017

The Global Findex Database 2017
Author: Asli Demirguc-Kunt
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2018-04-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464812683

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

Sustainability of Indian Microfinance Institutions

Sustainability of Indian Microfinance Institutions
Author: Nadiya Marakkath
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2013-10-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 8132216296

Although 'doing good' is our innate nature, we often get lost in the complexities and view goodness as a distant dream. Making this dream of goodness a reality is often thwarted by thoughts surrounding sustainability. Thus, all good initiatives require a focus on sustainability and this has become one of greatest and most formidable challenges faced by any social enterprise. The book documents the understanding of the sustainability of one of the most celebrated forms of social enterprise of our times — Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) gained through a mixed-methods research investigation. It attempts to answer pertinent questions such as: What are the determinant and discriminating factors for the sustainability of MFIs in India? How are these factors being managed by the operationally efficient Indian MFIs that remained sustainable at reasonable interest rates before the onset of the crisis and ceilings imposition in Indian microfinance markets? What does the Indian microfinance crisis teach us about sustainability management and mismanagement? In a nutshell, the answers show that sustainability is a strategic issue that needs managerial attention and not a matter to be left to serendipity. At a time when the industry is recovering from the adverse effects of a crisis and when there are still contentions as to whether the rate fixed by the regulator is enough for the sustenance of the MFIs, the findings mentioned in the book revive the lost hope for the Indian microfinance industry. By deciphering the strategies used by efficient and sustainable MFIs and discussing the lessons that the crisis has imparted to the Indian microfinance markets, this book will enable Indian MFIs to march towards efficient and sustainable operations without losing focus on their clients.

Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?

Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?
Author: Milford Bateman
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2010-06-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1848138954

Since its emergence in the 1970s, microfinance has risen to become one of the most high-profile policies to address poverty in developing and transition countries. It is beloved of rock stars, movie stars, royalty, high-profile politicians and ‘troubleshooting’ economists. In this provocative and controversial analysis, Milford Bateman reveals that microfinance doesn’t actually work. In fact, the case for it has been largely built on hype, on egregious half-truths and – latterly – on the Wall Street-style greed of those promoting and working in microfinance. Using a multitude of case studies, from India to Cambodia, Bolivia to Uganda, Serbia to Mexico, Bateman demonstrates that microfi nance actually constitutes a major barrier to sustainable economic and social development, and thus also to sustainable poverty reduction. As developing and transition countries attempt to repair the devastation wrought by the global financial crisis, Why Doesn’t Microfinance Work? argues forcefully that the role of microfinance in development policy urgently needs to be reconsidered.

Strategic Alliances to Scale Up Financial Services in Rural Areas

Strategic Alliances to Scale Up Financial Services in Rural Areas
Author: Joselito S. Gallardo
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0821366041

"Business firms have employed strategic alliances with other firms to effectively manage costs, overcome resource and technology constraints, and enhance competitive position. The principle and practice of strategic alliances can be applied as well for productive and beneficial institutional collaborations in rural financial markets to expand the array of financial products and to scale up access of rural households and micro-businesses to financial services. Strategic alliances comprise a new theme in rural finance. The institutions in the study used strategic alliances to tap new capital resources, manage transaction costs, access banking technology and infrastructure and acquire new skills to provide an expanding array of financial services to wider markets. The authors carefully examine the experiences of selected rural finance institutions and their strategic allies or development partners in Guatemala, the Philippines, Ghana and India to draw out the main findings and share the lessons that may be gainfully applied in other country settings. The study addressed a number of key questions: - What motivated the rural finance institution to structure its alliance or partnership with a bank, commercial or development organization? - How are gains from and costs of alliances and partnerships shared between collaborating institutions? - What are the key elements that make partnerships or alliances successful, and which conditions lead to unproductive ones? - Which financial products and services are best introduced through strategic alliances?"

Tomorrow's Agriculture

Tomorrow's Agriculture
Author: G.H. Peters
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 882
Release: 2018-04-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351737147

This title was first published in 2002: This volume represents some of the proceedings of the 24th conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) held in Berlin, Germany, in August 2000. The papers in this volume include the president's address, the Elmhirst Lecture and a selection of 20 contributed papers. It also includes panel discussion reports, reports on the discussion groups and mini-symposia, poster paper abstracts, and the synoptic view presented at the close of the conference by the new president of the IAAE, Joachin von Braun. The theme of the 24th conference was "Tomorrow's Agriculture: Incentives, Institutions, Infrastructure and Innovations", reflecting the rapid advances being made in the application of biotechnology in both the developed and developing worlds.

Efficiency, Equity and Well-Being in Selected African Countries

Efficiency, Equity and Well-Being in Selected African Countries
Author: Pia Nilsson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2019-04-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030114198

This book addresses poverty and well-being, equity, and efficiency in selected African countries. The chapters focus on three main topics: studies in the measurement and analysis of well-being and vulnerability to poverty, women's empowerment, and the dynamics and determinants of income and efficiency among smallholders. The chapters in the first section examine poverty, well-being, and vulnerability to poverty, as well as social exclusion, with a focus on households in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania. They highlight the need to consider multidimensional measures of well-being and vulnerability to poverty, the need to address the distribution of vulnerability across different segments of the population, as well as the importance of developing public policies aimed at poverty reduction and promoting the well-being of the poor. The next section deals with issues related to women’s empowerment, including a multidimensional case study of women’s empowerment in Ghana and women’s access to microfinance services in Ethiopia. The final section focuses on dynamics and determinants of income and efficiency among farm households in Ethiopia and Uganda. Using a variety of methodologies, this volume provides a multifaceted approach to studying poverty and well-being in a diverse range of locations. As such, it of use to undergraduate and graduate students studying African economics or economics of poverty and well-being, and will be appealing to public policymakers and international aid agencies.

MICROFINANCE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF ALIGARH DISTRICT, UTTAR PRADESH

MICROFINANCE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF ALIGARH DISTRICT, UTTAR PRADESH
Author: Dr. Anas Khan
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2018-05-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 138782015X

An estimation of about 40 millions in India and around 1.5 billion population worldwide live in absolute poverty. They are unable to meet their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. According to census 2011, more than 65%%%% of India's population living in rural areas and directly or indirectly depends upon agriculture to earn their livelihood, meaning thereby poverty and unemployment are the offshoots of their dependence on agriculture (Khan, 2014). Since 1947, the absolute number of poor has doubled despite the significant growth in agriculture production and employment over the past six decades of development planning.

Microfinance, Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction in Ghana

Microfinance, Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction in Ghana
Author: Aaron Alesane
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2022-12-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000828735

This book assesses the role of microfinance in the construction of livelihoods for poverty reduction in the Northern Savannah of Ghana, analysing the current microfinance landscape and financial services in the region. The book analyses the current microfinance landscape and financial services in Ghana. In doing so, it demonstrates the key factors for designing microfinance products and services to ensure greater uptake and outreach enhancing the sustainability of microfinance service providers. Chapters explore the impact of access to microfinance on livelihood diversification, asset accumulation patterns and welfare outcomes. In addition to assessing the role as well as of microfinance as an anti-poverty tool, the book presents new theoretical frameworks and models, including the microfinance livelisystem framework (MFL). This unique framework, which combines and goes beyond existing frameworks, situates the microfinance industry within national and international financial and economic ecosystems and presents the interrelationships between institutions providing services for the construction of livelihoods. Offering new theoretical frameworks and models developed for the microfinance industry with universal application, this book will be of particular use to students and scholars of Development Studies, Development Finance, Poverty and Inequality Studies, Rural Development and Sustainable Finance.