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Microfinance

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Institutionalizing Ethics In Institutional Voids: Building Positive Ethical Strength To Serve Women Microfinance Borrowers In Negative Contexts, Subrata Chakrabarty, A E. Bass Dec 2013

Institutionalizing Ethics In Institutional Voids: Building Positive Ethical Strength To Serve Women Microfinance Borrowers In Negative Contexts, Subrata Chakrabarty, A E. Bass

Subrata Chakrabarty

This study examines whether microfinance institutions (MFIs) that serve women borrowers at the base of the economic pyramid are likely to adopt a written code of positive organizational ethics (POE). Using econometric analysis of operational and economic data of a sample of MFIs from across the world, we find that two contextual factors —poverty level and lack of women's empowerment— moderate the influence of an MFI's percentage of women borrowers on the probability of the MFI having a POE code. MFIs that serve more women borrowers are more likely to adopt a POE code, especially in negative contexts (where women …

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Corporate Governance In Microfinance Institutions: Board Composition And The Ability To Face Institutional Voids, Subrata Chakrabarty, A E. Bass Dec 2013

Corporate Governance In Microfinance Institutions: Board Composition And The Ability To Face Institutional Voids, Subrata Chakrabarty, A E. Bass

Subrata Chakrabarty

Research Question/Issue: We utilize institutional theory to examine corporate governance in microfinance institutions (MFIs). Many MFIs operate at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP), which is usually agrarian, impoverished, and plagued with institutional voids. We investigate the link between the composition of the boards of MFIs and the ability of the MFIs to face institutional voids to ensure organizational viability. 
Research Findings/Insights: We find that MFIs with boards that have more socio-economic expertise and female representation are better able to lower the MFI’s costs of operating at the BOP. However, this relationship weakens when the effectiveness of agrarian institutions …

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Encouraging Entrepreneurship: Microfinance, Knowledge Support, And The Costs Of Operating In Institutional Voids, Subrata Chakrabarty, A E. Bass Dec 2012

Encouraging Entrepreneurship: Microfinance, Knowledge Support, And The Costs Of Operating In Institutional Voids, Subrata Chakrabarty, A E. Bass

Subrata Chakrabarty

This study focuses on the supplemented strategies of microfinance institutions (MFIs), in which the MFI offers nonfinancial services, such as entrepreneurship related knowledge, in addition to financial services to impoverished borrowers at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP). We examine two contextual factors— foreign direct investment (FDI) and loan defaults— to better understand the relationship between providing knowledge support to encourage entrepreneurship and costs of operating at the BoP for MFIs. In contexts where FDI is low and loan defaults are high, providing knowledge support to encourage entrepreneurship aggravates the MFI's costs of operating at the BoP. However, in contexts …

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Before Microfinance: The Social Value Of Microsavings In Vincentian Poverty Reduction, Marco Tavanti Dec 2009

Before Microfinance: The Social Value Of Microsavings In Vincentian Poverty Reduction, Marco Tavanti

Marco Tavanti

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss the values and limits of microfinance within the context of poverty reduction, international development and community empowerment. The main thesis is that microfinance requires a more complex strategy than simply the provision of credits. The development of financial capital depends on the increase in human capacity and social capital. Microfinance is revisited under the ethical lenses of global responsibility for alleviating poverty and developing community sustainability. Through a critical review of the literature and case studies from the Philippines, the author suggests a value-based Vincentian approach to integrate microfinance into …

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Chicago Islamic Microfinance Project, Karen Hunt Ahmed, Cynthia Shawamreh Dec 2008

Chicago Islamic Microfinance Project, Karen Hunt Ahmed, Cynthia Shawamreh

Karen Hunt Ahmed

No abstract provided.

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Good Governance In Microcredit Strategy For Poverty Reduction: Focus On Western Mindanao, Philippines, Frede G. Moreno Nov 2004

Good Governance In Microcredit Strategy For Poverty Reduction: Focus On Western Mindanao, Philippines, Frede G. Moreno

Frede G Moreno

The study argues for the integration of good governance principles in developing financially viable, effective and social equity-laden microcredit strategy for the impoverished agrarian reform beneficiaries in Western Mindanao. It particularly examines the program design and implementation strategies of the Enterprise Development Credit (EDC) sub-component of the Western Mindanao Community Initiatives Project (WMCIP). The study aims to provide lessons and insights for the planning and implementation of comprehensive and integrated Official Development Assistance (ODA)-funded government programs for poverty reduction and rural development. The data and information were generated from combined descriptive and field studies covering a sample survey, group discussions, …

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Good Governance In Microcredit Strategy For Poverty Reduction: Focus On Western Mindanao, Philippines, Frede G. Moreno Nov 2004

Good Governance In Microcredit Strategy For Poverty Reduction: Focus On Western Mindanao, Philippines, Frede G. Moreno

Frede G Moreno

The study argues for the integration of good governance principles in developing financially viable, effective and social equity-laden microcredit strategy for the impoverished agrarian reform beneficiaries in Western Mindanao. It particularly examines the program design and implementation strategies of the Enterprise Development Credit (EDC) sub-component of the Western Mindanao Community Initiatives Project (WMCIP). The study aims to provide lessons and insights for the planning and implementation of comprehensive and integrated Official Development Assistance (ODA)-funded government programs for poverty reduction and rural development. The data and information were generated from combined descriptive and field studies covering a sample survey, group discussions, …

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