Download or read book Informal Finance and Formal Microfinance written by Pierre-Germain UMUHIRE and published by Presses universitaires de Louvain. This book was released on 2013-05-22 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation endeavours to shed light on the paradox of the persistence of informal finance in urban African markets despite the emergence of a vibrant microfinance sector. To do so, it analyses the rationale of the financial choices of the micro-entrepreneurs operating in the markets of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). In particular, a careful examination of the motives driving the combinative use of informal and formal microfinance is carried. In order to lay deep theoretical foundations to this analysis, this thesis develops a model describing the financial behaviour of the micro-entrepreneurs in the presence of hyperbolic preferences and social influences. The solution of this model shows, inter alia, that the financial choices are not solely driven by economic motivations but also by social motivations. This result is confirmed by empirical observations which show, among other things, that social relations play an important role in explaining the persistence of informal finance. Besides, it appeared also that the combinative use of informal finance and microfinance can be explained, on the one side, by the fact that the motives driving the demand for informal and for formal finance are not always the same and, on the other side, by the fact that these two types of financial mechanisms are more likely to be used as complements than as substitutes. Ultimately, this thesis unfolds a new perspective for apprehending the coexistence of informal and formal microfinance. Informal finance is no longer considered as a makeshift, but as an integral part of the financial landscape of the Sub-Saharan urban financial markets. Therefore, microfinance institutions and policy makers ought to adopt a more positive and pro-active attitude vis-à-vis informal finance.
Download or read book Introduction to Microfinance written by Todd A Watkins and published by World Scientific Publishing Company. This book was released on 2018-04-09 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Banks Informal Money Lenders and Asymmetric Information written by Patrick Avato and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2012-05 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Economics - Monetary theory and policy, grade: A= 1,0, Johns Hopkins University (School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)), course: Theories and Models of Economic Development, 29 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Credit markets in developing countries differ substantially from their counterparts in OECD countries. Apart from the obvious differences in institutional development, technology and productivity which are both measures for and causes of underdevelopment, typ ical LDC credit markets have two main characteristics. Firstly, their financial systems are very small compared those in industrial economies. Secondly, developing countries are characterized by very big informal financial sectors that coexist with formal credit institutions. Interestingly, credit contracts differ highly between these two sectors and there seems to be only very limited inter-sector competition. The following paper ventures to explain the persistence of these peculiarities in rural credit markets1 using the model of asymmetric information in credit markets developed by Stiglitz and Weiss. By applying the model specifically to LDC credit markets I show that asymmetric information is among the major reasons for the underdevelopment of rural credit markets. Building on these findings I then explain how Microfinance Institutions (MFI) have lately been able to overcome some of the problems of imperfect information and strive in markets formerly dominated by informal money lenders. The first part of this paper provides an overview of the typical characteristics of credit markets in developing countries, concentrating on the limited size of LDC credit markets and on the apparent dichotomy between formal and informal finance sectors. Then, the importance of financial systems for economic development is briefly outlined in order to explain the relevance of the topic of this essay. The main part of the paper then pre
Download or read book Informal Finance In Low income Countries written by Dale W Adams and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-04 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Invisible to official statistics and operating outside the reach of governmental regulation, informal finance markets often prove more efficient and more fair than their formal counterparts. The authors of these studies emphasize the diversity and richness of informal credit markets.
Download or read book Informal Finance written by Prabhu Ghate and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In most Asian countries, there exists a dynamic informal financial sector working side by side with formal finance, which has not until now been researched carefully. Informal Finance is based on a research project that examined informal finance in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. The issues encountered in studying each country are discussed, as are regional diversity within countries and the differences between rural and urban areas. Rather than simply summarizing the five country studies on which it is based, Informal Finance presents a synthesis based on a common framework that permits cross-country comparisons.
Download or read book The Role of Informal Institutions in Microfinance written by Akhil Malaki and published by VDM Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is about informal institutions in informal finance and microfinance in Jamaica and Trinidad-Tobago. Informal institutions are understood as unwritten social norms that cater to specific needs in the society, and can be indirectly captured and measured in their outcome. The institutional framework of this study helps capture the institutional dynamics and the processes in informal finance and microfinance. The framework demonstrates that informal institutions exist in both informal finance and formal microfinance, exposes the interface between financial intermediaries and the informal institutions through certain mechanisms like joint liability and social collateral that reduce information asymmetries and transactions costs. The study also includes an empirical investigation of client needs, preference and benefits that provides the evidence as to why they subscribe to informal institutions via the various financial intermediaries. Academics and students in the area of institutional analysis would particularly find this study of interest. The study also provides some insights to microfinance practitioners in the Caribbean regarding client preferences.
Download or read book Banks Informal Money Lenders and Asymmetric Information written by Patrick Avato and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2005-06-13 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Economics - Monetary theory and policy, grade: A= 1,0, Johns Hopkins University (School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)), course: Theories and Models of Economic Development, language: English, abstract: Credit markets in developing countries differ substantially from their counterparts in OECD countries. Apart from the obvious differences in institutional development, technology and productivity which are both measures for and causes of underdevelopment, typ ical LDC credit markets have two main characteristics. Firstly, their financial systems are very small compared those in industrial economies. Secondly, developing countries are characterized by very big informal financial sectors that coexist with formal credit institutions. Interestingly, credit contracts differ highly between these two sectors and there seems to be only very limited inter-sector competition. The following paper ventures to explain the persistence of these peculiarities in rural credit markets1 using the model of asymmetric information in credit markets developed by Stiglitz and Weiss. By applying the model specifically to LDC credit markets I show that asymmetric information is among the major reasons for the underdevelopment of rural credit markets. Building on these findings I then explain how Microfinance Institutions (MFI) have lately been able to overcome some of the problems of imperfect information and strive in markets formerly dominated by informal money lenders. The first part of this paper provides an overview of the typical characteristics of credit markets in developing countries, concentrating on the limited size of LDC credit markets and on the apparent dichotomy between formal and informal finance sectors. Then, the importance of financial systems for economic development is briefly outlined in order to explain the relevance of the topic of this essay. The main part of the paper then presents the model of asymmetric information in credit markets pioneered by Stiglitz/Weiss as a possible explanation for the causal origins of these characteristics. The last part shows how successful microfinance institutions may succeed in operating in rural credit markets by their ability to overcome problems of imperfect information.
Download or read book The Handbook of Microfinance written by Beatriz Armendariz and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2011 with total page 700 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Handbook of Microfinance addresses the gap between clients who are benefiting from access to financial services via MFIs, and the potential market, which remains underserved or untapped. This gap can be attributed to a "mismatch" between what consumers, or potential clients, demand and what MFIs offer in terms of financial products. The scope of the book is wide. It includes successes and failures, main challenges and debates, methodologies for impact evaluation via random trials, leading trends in Asia versus Latin America, main efforts in Africa, the importance of value chains in Central America, ethical and gender issues, savings, microinsurance, governance, commercialization trends and the potential advantages and disadvantages of it. Lastly it features main lessons from informal finance and 19th-century credit cooperatives addressing the above-mentioned mismatch.
Download or read book The Triangle of Microfinance written by Manfred Zeller and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 1980s when the microfinance revolution began, much has been accomplished, but the field became more refined in the 1990s as a result of shifts in paradigms, strategies, and development practices. This volume addresses the three policy objectives that now occupy those who wish to use credit as a development tool: financial sustainability of microfinance institutions, outreach to the poor, and welfare impact. Inevitable tradeoffs exist among these objectives, and the book advances an analytical framework that assists students of and experts in microfinance to identify the tradeoffs and synergies at the institutional level and in the policy environment. The book features a wealth of empirical data and innovative analytical studies, and critically discusses the role of public support for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in light of the social costs and benefits generated by such financial systems. The book is organized into five parts. The first discusses the demand for and access to financial services by the poor, emphasizing that demand-oriented, pro-poor financial services are crucial in reaching the poor. The second is concerned with two of the criteria used to evaluate MFIsoutreach and financial sustainability. The third features innovative econometric studies seeking to evaluate the impact of MFIs at the household level. The fourth looks at the role of both public- and private-sector institutions in developing sustainable financial systems. And the fifth summarizes implications for policy and research. Given the lack of sound, empirical literature on microfinance, this volume is sure to advance knowledge and research methodology in the field.
Download or read book The Microfinance Revolution written by Marguerite Robinson and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2001-06-01 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around the world, a revolution is occurring in finance for low-income people. The microfinance revolution is delivering financial services to the economically active poor on a large scale through competing, financially self-sufficient institutions. In a few countries this has already happened; in others it is under way. The emerging microfinance industry has profound implications for social and economic development. For the first time in history, capital is well on its way to being democratized. 'The Microfinance Revolution', in three volumes, is aimed at a diverse readership - economists, bankers, policymakers, donors, and social scientists; microfinance practitioners and specialists in local finance and rural and urban development; and members of the general public interested in development. This first volume, 'Sustainable Finance for the Poor', focuses on the shift from government- and donor-subsidized credit systems to self-sufficient microfinance institutions providing voluntary savings and credit services.
Download or read book Securing Livelihoods written by Isabelle Hillenkamp and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-11-07 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Far from the vision of popular actors in the popular economy as reactionary and archaic, stubbornly resisting any move towards change, this book's overall aim is to contribute to a broadening and deepening of our understanding of the logic and socio-economic practices of those operating in the informal economy. It focuses on the vulnerabilities of these participants, resulting from high exposure to different risks combined with low social protection, and on the interactions between vulnerability and poverty. It considers security of livelihoods as the guiding principle for multiple practices in the informal economy. Thirteen studies, based on careful analyses of empirical data in different contexts in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, contribute to this multidisciplinary discussion. This book describes how people develop their own strategies to solve their problems through the use of interpersonal networks, associations, and other community-based arrangements. Moreover, it shows that informal economy actors systematically reposition themselves vis-à-vis the State, markets, international, and national policies with the aim of enhancing their economic and social security, and they may do this either individually or collectively. The book emphasizes how adaptability of the informal economy can be influenced by such factors as the macroeconomic context, access to financial, technological, and information resources, infrastructure, social protection schemes, and the institutional environment within which adaptations occur. Case studies stress the need to reformulate questions relating to policy intervention based on a more thorough understanding of the perspective of informal economy actors.
Download or read book Microfinance in Africa written by Mr.Rodolphe Blavy and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2004-09-01 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the experience of selected countries, this paper offers a critical presentation of the development of the microfinance sector in Africa. The paper supports the view that microfinance institutions, especially those engaged in full financial intermediation, complement effectively the banking sector in extending financial services and successfully draw on the rich experience of community-based development and preexisting informal methods of financial intermediation in Africa. Growing linkages between microfinance institutions and the banking system and the dissemination of good practices by nongovernment organizations contribute to the sound development of the sector, supported by regulation and supervision by local authorities.
Download or read book Informal Finance and Microfinance in Jamaica and Trinidad Tobago written by Akhil Malaki and published by Stockholm Universitet. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This study is about informal institutions in informal finance and microfinance in Jamaica and Trinidad-Tobago. Informal institutions as understood in this study are unwritten social norms that cater to specific needs in the society, and can be indirectly captured and measured in their outcome. Informal institutions are deeply embedded in the socio-cultural matrix of a society. In the context of informal finance and microfinance, the outcome of the existence of informal institutions are the indigenous financial intermediaries like Roscas, community based lending, and individual financial brokers."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Microfinance Handbook written by Joanna Ledgerwood and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1998-12-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Bringing Finance to Pakistan s Poor written by Tatiana Nenova and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2009-11-13 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although access to financing in Pakistan is expanding quickly, it is two to four times lower than regional benchmarks. Half of Pakistani adults, mostly women, do not engage with the financial system at all, and only 14 percent have access to formal services. Credit for small- and medium-size enterprises is rationed by the financial system. The formal microfinance sector reaches less than 2 percent of the poor, as opposed to more than 25 percent in neighboring countries. Yet it is the micro- and small businesses, along with remittances, that help families escape the poverty trap and participate in the economy. 'Bringing Finance to Pakistan s Poor' is based on a pioneering and comprehensive survey and dataset that measures the access to financial products by Pakistani households. The survey included 10,305 households in all areas of the country, excluding the tribal regions. The accompanying CD contains summary statistics. The authors develop a picture of access to and usage of financial services across the country and across different population groups, and they identify policy and regulatory priorities. Reform measures in Pakistan have been timely, but alone are not enough; financial institutions have lagged behind in adopting technology, segmenting customer bases, diversifying products, and simplifying processes and procedures. Gender bias and low levels of financial literacy remain barriers, as is geographical remoteness. However, the single strongest cause of low financial access is lack of income not location, education, or even gender. 'Bringing Finance to Pakistan s Poor' will be of great interest to readers working in the areas of business and finance, economic policy, gender and rural development, and microfinance.
Download or read book Microfinance Challenges written by Isabelle Guérin and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributed papers presented earlier in a conference.
Download or read book Informal Finance written by Prabhu Ghate and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In most Asian countries, there exists a dynamic informal financial sector working side by side with formal finance, which has not until now been researched carefully. Informal Finance is based on a research project that examined informal finance in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. The issues encountered in studying each country are discussed, as are regional diversity within countries and the differences between rural and urban areas. Rather than simply summarizing the five country studies on which it is based, Informal Finance presents a synthesis based on a common framework that permits cross-country comparisons.
