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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Impacts Of Commercialization On Depth, Breadth, Scope, And Quality Of Outreach In Mozambique: A Case-Study, Courtney Johnson Dec 2017

The Impacts Of Commercialization On Depth, Breadth, Scope, And Quality Of Outreach In Mozambique: A Case-Study, Courtney Johnson

Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development—Student Research

In today’s microfinance, scholars and policy-makers across the world have emphasized the importance of financial sustainability, or the ability of a microfinance institution (MFI) to finance its operations. In order to reach financial sustainability, MFIs embrace commercialization, a process where an MFI undergoes restructuring in order to open up avenues to capital. Yet, scholars are concerned that this emphasizes on financial sustainability will cause the social good objective to suffer, a phenomenon known as “trade-off.” Indeed, studies have found that commercialization impacts MFI outreach in various ways. To my knowledge, no research has attempted to understand the impacts of commercialization …


Ethnic Diversity And Poverty: A Dynamic Panel Study Of Illinois Counties, Ambuj Neupane Aug 2012

Ethnic Diversity And Poverty: A Dynamic Panel Study Of Illinois Counties, Ambuj Neupane

Master's Theses - Economics

Ethnic diversity’s effects on factors of economic development have been studied widely in recent years. I expand upon this research by directly studying ethnic diversity’s effects on the poverty rates within the counties of Illinois, using a dynamic panel technique devised by Blundell and Bond (1998). My results are consistent with the noted effects in previous literature, and provide extra weight towards measures of fractionalization and polarization. I conclude with policy implications and limitations which require future research.


Fiscal Decentralization And Its Effect On Poverty Evidence From Panel Data On The Lower 48 American States, Nicholas Valaris Aug 2012

Fiscal Decentralization And Its Effect On Poverty Evidence From Panel Data On The Lower 48 American States, Nicholas Valaris

Capstone Projects-Economics

This study examines the effect of local and state fiscal autonomy on the poverty rate in the U.S. from 1980-2000. The findings are that the gap between own revenues and own expenditures, known as Vertical Imbalances, has an optimal level at which the negative influence on poverty is at its maximum. Shifts along the Vertical Imbalances curve towards the optimal value cause reductions in the poverty rate by hundredths of a percent. Convergence towards the optimal Vertical Imbalances value is still recommended as a reduction in poverty could be achieved by incurring little to no economic cost.


Minimum Wage As A Poverty Reducing Measure, Kevin Souza May 2007

Minimum Wage As A Poverty Reducing Measure, Kevin Souza

Master's Theses - Economics

With the recent increase in the Federal minimum wage, it is important to consider the impact of minimum wage in order to assess its effectiveness as a poverty reducing measure. While an increase in the minimum wage will increase income, the increased labor cost may cause an increase in unemployment. Greater unemployment may negate any benefit derived from the change in the minimum wage. Also, the minimum wage could put upward pressure on all wages. By using data from the Census and Bureau of Labor and Statistic’s 2006 March Supplement, it is possible to develop a model that empirically tests …