MICROFINANCE REVOLUTION: ITS EFFECTS,INNOVATIONS, AND CHALLENGES

“Microfinance revolution” is the term often applied to the successful expansion of small-scale financial services to the poor with high repayment records in developing countries. The present paper investigates the extent to which the microfinance revolution is truly revolutionary. More specifically, it explores the impact of microfinance institutions on the poor, the mechanisms underlying high repayment rates and their innovations, and the new challenges microfinance institutions are currently facing. Different from the existing published survey literature, we focus on current topics and attempt to show recent theoretical developments in a comprehensive manner using simplified models with very similar settings. We contend that microfinance is developing in a promising direction but has yet to reach its full potential.     

Evaluation of the impact of Village Savings and Loan Associations using a novel survey instrument

Formal microfinance institutions have been an important tool in the fight against poverty in developing countries, but their reach is necessarily limited. Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are an alternative, informal mechanism for saving and borrowing that do not require external capital or ongoing financial or administrative support from a founding organisation. This article evaluates the impact of VSLAs on their members and finds that long-term members fare better along multiple economic, nutritional, and health dimensions compared with a control group of recent joiners.     

Small is beautiful,but growth is inevitable: experiences of apex institutions in Senegal and Tanzania

This article examines the experiences of two national apex institutions in two sub-Saharan African countries, Senegal and Tanzania, which channel funds to retail microfinance institutions (MFIs). These two national apexes are the Dyna-Enterprises Project and the Small Entrepreneurs Loan Facility (SELF) project, which are functioning in Senegal and Tanzania respectively. Both Dyna and SELF initially started as small-scale apex MFIs and had been conceived with the same vision in mind – facilitation of access to financial services for the poor. The initial implementation focused on provision of credit through MFIs as well as capacity building. The targeted groups of clients are similar, i.e. the disadvantaged, and mostly are women groups in urban or peri-urban areas carrying out general petty trade activities. Like many apex institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, both SELF and Dyna have stimulated demand for more financial support to the poor and have shown potential to be transformed into viable commercial MFIs. This entails expansion in terms of increased number of staff, branches, cost-effective microfinance services, the number and quality of financial products, capacity building, outreach and information services. The current vision of these national apex institutions is to transform into effective, transparent and efficient corporate entities for addressing poverty issues through harnessing and targeting funds to needy areas, while incorporating microfinance best practices.     

Growth and improverishment in the middle of the nineteenth century

This paper applies the techniques for the development of ‘soft’ data to gain insight into the historical impacts of economic change on the structure and extent of poverty in the early stages of commercialization and industrialization. A typology of the structure of poverty is constructed for 1850 for 24 countries and the nine types which emerge are ranked partially by the probable extent of extreme poverty. The nature and ranking of the types are then used to develop hypotheses regarding the historical processes generating poverty. The paper focuses on the poorest stratum of society in countries of widely different levels of development. The study suggests that the phenomena generating poverty in 1850 were surprisingly similar to those operating in today's developing countries.     

‘Growing’ social protection in developing countries: Lessons from Brazil and South Africa

The rapid expansion of social protection in the South provides a rich diversity of experiences and lessons on how best to reduce poverty and ultimately eradicate it. Knowledge on how best to ‘grow’ social assistance, understood as long-term institutions responsible for reducing and preventing poverty, is at a premium. This article examines the expansion of social assistance in Brazil and South Africa, two of the middle income countries widely perceived to have advanced furthest in ‘growing’ social protection. It examines three aspects: the primacy of politics in explaining the expansion of social protection and assistance, the tensions between path-dependence and innovation in terms of institutions and practices, and the poverty and inequality outcomes of social assistance expansion. The article concludes by drawing the main lessons for other developing countries.     

基于经济增长的新疆减贫效果趋势分析

经济增长和减贫一直是发展中国家和地区制定发展战略所考虑的重点。改革开放初期,新疆通过经济增长极大地降低了农村贫困,经济增长的减贫效果显著;20世纪80年代中后期至2010年,由于经济增长的质量下降和收入不平等程度增加,减贫趋势变缓;2011年以后,随着援疆工作和民生工程的不断推进,高速的经济增长和对贫困人口有利的收入分配对减贫起到了良好的效果,经济增长出现了益贫性特征。纵观改革开放至今,新疆减贫成就的主要原因是经济持续的高速增长、人力资本的明显改善和政府采取的反贫困行动;而其减贫趋势放缓的原因是农村经济增长质量的下降和农村收入分配的不断恶化。为此,本文认为新时期扶贫工作中,新疆应实施益贫式增长战略。从生产领域着手,在增加就业的同时通过增加穷人的资产基础以提高穷人的自我发展能力,而政府在打造民生工程时应注重市场机制,以保持减贫的可持续性。     

Some methods of poverty analysis: An application to Iranian data, 1975–1976

Most analyses of poverty in developing countries are based on the so-called poverty incidence, i.e. the proportion of poor households in the total household population. This paper provides estimates of poverty in Iran which are more detailed in two respects: first, it estimates the number of poor based on poverty lines for households of different sizes and second, it estimates the extent of poverty with the so-called poverty gaps. Both aspects of poverty are incorporated in the Sen index, which is also estimated. On the basis of these estimates a poverty map for Iran is drawn up. It shows that poverty diminished substantially between 1971 and 1975 and that poverty is most concentrated in the regions of Khorasan and Sistan & Baluchistan.     

Rural poverty unperceived: Problems and remedies

The thesis of this paper is that there are major obstacles to perceiving the nature and the extent of rural poverty in developing countries. These obstacles originate not only in the nature of rural poverty itself, but also in the condition of those, not themselves of the rural poor, who do or, more significantly, do not perceive that poverty. The argument has implications for all rural development programmes and projects, and for the training of staff. The conclusion is that reversals of current positions and practices are required if the obstacles are to be surmounted, if the nature and the extent of rural poverty are to be truly appreciated, and if future actions are to be tailored to the actual needs of the rural poor.     

乡村振兴背景下扶贫小额信贷减贫效应研究

根据收集的400份问卷的数据建立PSM-DID模型来探究扶贫小额信贷政策的减贫效应.研究结果表明,扶贫小额信贷政策有一定的减贫效应,并且得出家庭人均年收入与户主年龄和户主受教育程度成正相关关系,与家庭人口数成负相关关系的结论.     

Predicting Household Poverty: A Methodological Note with a Kenyan Example

Household surveys provide data that is used for identifying and measuring the poverty status of households and individuals. However, carrying out such surveys is expensive, especially in poor developing countries. Thus it is important to make maximum use of the available survey data in developing countries, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa, where such data are expensive to collect and analyse. This paper develops a simple method for using poverty indices derived from survey data for a given year, to predict poverty rates for subsequent periods without having to conduct a new household survey. We illustrate the workings of the method with data from Kenyan household surveys for 1994 and 1997.     

Modalities of Microfinance Delivery in Asia and Latin America： Lessons for China

I. Introduction Microfinance, the provision of small size loans and other financial services to low income households, is often seen as the key innovation of the last 25 years in terms of means of reaching out to the poor and vulnerable. There is extensive experience in microfinanceprovision in both Asia and Latin America, but as yet relatively little use of the approach in China. In Section, this paper assesses different approaches to microfinance delivery using a simple threefold distincti…     

Are Urban Poverty and Undernutrition Growing? Some Newly Assembled Evidence

The population of the developing world is becoming more urban. Are poverty and undernutrition beginning to relocate to urban areas as well? We use survey data on poverty (from eight countries) and on child undernutrition (from 14 countries) to address this question. Using data from the past 15–20 years we find that in a majority of countries the absolute number of poor and undernourished individuals living in urban areas has increased, as has the share of overall poverty and undernourishment coming from urban areas. Given these trends and the current stock of knowledge as to the levels, determinants and solutions to urban poverty and undernutrition, we argue for more research on these issues.     

Microfinance in the Asia Pacific

The use of financial services as a development tool has taken a variety of forms over the past 25 years—rural credit schemes offering heavily subsidised loans to poor farmers, microfinance organisations providing working capital loans to predominately female micro-entrepreneurs, and a variety of organisations offering a range of financial services (credit, savings and insurance) to help poor households increase incomes and reduce their vulnerability to income fluctuations. Microfinance providers in Asia and Latin America have been world leaders, and the demonstration effect of their successes has helped to build substantial microfinance industries in countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and Bolivia. Africa has fewer well-known programs but some notable performers and growing microfinance sectors nonetheless; while regions such as the South Pacific have few if any microfinance successes. This paper highlights some key themes in the development of microfinance, with particular reference to the Asia Pacific region.     

如何有效提高扶贫开发水平之思考

贫困问题是世界性难题,对发展中国家来说尤为突出。中国政府为扶贫开发做了大量工作。进入新世纪,面临新形势、新任务,进一步提高扶贫开发水平,解决贫困人口生存发展问题具有紧迫性和重要意义。在新的历史起点上,提高扶贫开发水平,要突出重点,处理好两大关系,形成保障消除贫困的长效机制。     

Revisiting wage subsidies: How pro-poor is a South African wage subsidy likely to be?

Wage subsidies have been used in both developed and developing countries to raise employment. After a decade of deliberation, the South African Government recently announced the introduction of a wage subsidy scheme. Given the intrinsic link between unemployment and poverty in South Africa, the belief is that a wage subsidy programme sufficient in scope will also make inroads into poverty. However, the way in which jobs are distributed among poor and non-poor jobseekers is crucial. Our general equilibrium microsimulation model confirms the expectation that a higher wage elasticity of labour demand is associated with larger reductions in poverty. We also find that a greater proportion of new jobs accrue to poor jobseekers when the elasticity is high. While youth-targeting does not improve the poverty-reducing effect of the policy, sectors such as textiles, accommodation, and construction services with their pro-poor employment profiles are good candidates for targeting.     

Income distribution,basic needs and trade-offs with growth: The case of semi-industrialized Latin American countries

This paper addresses income distribution issues and policy options to eliminate extreme poverty in a particular typology of middle-income semi-industrialized developing countries of Latin America. The countries included in the typology are characterized by a relatively high per capita income (above US$700/yr in 1977), a relatively high degree of industrialization (industry representing over 30% of GNP), a rather large size both in population and area, and relatively well endowed resources in agriculture. A distinctive feature is a strong inequality in the distribution of income and wealth relative to other countries of similar levels of per capita income. The countries included are Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru, representing two-thirds of the population of that region.     

柬埔寨小额信贷发展探究

柬埔寨小额信贷起步于上世纪90年代,历经20年,已经实现了产业的可持续发展。经济学人信息部(EIU)发布《小额信贷业务综合商业环境报告》对54个发展中国家展开调查,柬埔寨小额信贷业务商业环境排名第16位,在东南亚地区位居次席。     

The limits of development research

The scope and the limits of the use and transfer of development research are discussed and the question is raised what social, political, philosophical and moral problems arise when scholars from rich countries, with well-endowed centres of learning, carry out research on and in substantially poorer countries. The charges are examined that have been made by developing countries against research on their problems and in their territory, and in particular the charge of intellectual imperialism. Different arguments for collaboration in research between rich and poor countries are distinguished. There is a discussion of interdisciplinary research and its organization. Some of the issues are illustrated with the aid of an example: research on poverty eradication and strategies for greater (efficient) equality. The question is raised whether research in rich countries should confine itself to the ‘interface’ of rich – poor relations or whether development research is an indivisible whole.     

健康扶贫政策提升农村贫困老人主观幸福感了吗？

随着我国脱贫攻坚结束进入过渡期，健康扶贫政策对巩固脱贫攻坚提高农村贫困人口健康水平具有重要的意义。基于2015年和2018年中国健康与养老追踪调查（CHARLS）数据，运用倾向得分匹配和双重差分模型（PSM-DID），分析健康扶贫政策对农村贫困老人幸福感的影响及作用机制。研究结果表明，健康扶贫政策在5%的显著水平下提升了农村贫困老人的积极情感，并在1%的显著水平下降低了其消极情感；机制检验发现，健康扶贫政策通过提升农村贫困老人实际健康状况、降低医疗费用支出的路径提升了农村贫困老人主观幸福感；通过异质性分析发现，健康扶贫政策在5%的显著性水平下提升了健康状况较差的农村贫困老人积极情绪。最后提出逐步完善医疗保障体系、拓宽健康帮扶边界、提升医疗服务水平、树立大健康理念等建议。