Do women borrowers augment financial performance of MFIs?

There is some consensus that depth of outreach and financial performance of Microfinance Institutions (MFI) are positively correlated. A majority of microcredit borrowers are women and since the prevalence of female borrowers is even greater among the very poor, there should be a positive correlation between female borrowers and financial performance. Most of the MFIs target women as preferred borrowers. However, no study to date has investigated the relationship between targeting women and MFI’s sustainability with respect to profitability and yield. Utilizing a panel of 892 MFIs over a period of 10 years, this study shows that increased proportion of women borrowers has a statistically significant positive impact on yield and financial performance of MFIs. Consequently, this article also analyses the implication as to whether female borrowers have better repayment rate than male borrowers.     

Does financial inclusion empower women in Africa?

This paper examines the effect of financial inclusion on women's empowerment. We contribute to the growing interest in financial inclusion effectiveness literature by conducting an empirical analysis of 42 African countries to examine the role of financial inclusion in empowering women. We also examine and compare the effectiveness of the three dimensions of financial inclusion viz. usage, access, and quality, and the first most influential indicators, based on their PCA score, of these dimensions. Our findings suggest that financial inclusion has a significantly positive effect on women's empowerment-measured by females' human development index. Examining the relative importance of financial inclusion dimensions, we find access to financial services has a higher effect on women's empowerment. These results are robust to alternative measures of women's empowerment and financial inclusion, and alternative estimation procedures. We also find that the effect of financial inclusion on women's empowerment is higher in low and lower-middle-income countries compared with upper-middle-income countries in the region. This study provides evidence of one of the channels through which financial inclusion contributes to reducing gender inequality, and thereby enhancing economic development.     

Performance-related pay and gender wage differences

We study the impact of performance-related pay (PRP) on gender wage differences using Finnish-linked employer–employee panel data. Controlling for unobserved person and firm effects, we find that bonuses increase women’s earnings slightly less than men’s, but the economic significance of the difference is negligible. Piece rates and reward rates, however, tend to increase gender wage differentials. Thus, the nature of a PRP plan is important for gauging the impact of PRP on gender wage differentials. A comparison with OLS results shows the importance of controlling for an unobserved person and firm effects.     

Does the inequality-credit-crisis nexus exist? An empirical re-examination

ABSTRACT

Rajan claims that rising inequality led to financial crises through credit booms in the U.S. Kumhof and Ranciere provide a theoretical formulation for this hypothesis. However, their assertions are not supported by cross-country evidence found in the work of Bordo and Meissner. A few subsequent empirical studies, albeit inspired by this pioneering work, find new evidence not in line with its conclusion but with the Rajan hypothesis. To clarify this controversial issue, we base our study on the B-M framework, resort to different estimators, and employ more model specifications by incorporating the role of deindustrialization. We find strong evidence for the inequality-credit-crisis nexus as modelled by Kumhof et al.     

Directed credit,financial development and financial structure: theory and evidence

The recent initiative of the RBI in reviving the policy of directed credit allocation in a period dominated by the neoliberal philosophy necessitates reconsideration of the role of policy-directed credit allocation process on financial development and financial structure of firms. Introducing certain policy parameters, the paper attempts to model how financial development-financial structure interlinkage is influenced by the liberalization policies of the government. The theoretical construct is empirically verified using both aggregated and disaggregated (firm-level) data comprising a panel of 932 Indian manufacturing firms. Findings reveal that following the liberalization measures in the early 1990s, there has been a structural shift in the debt–equity ratio of firms, with equity market activities assuming prominence over time. As regards financial development, it has been observed that the withdrawal of DFIs specialized in term-lending activities in the early 2000s led to a significant increase in the degree of financing constraints faced by the manufacturing firms. This contradicts the basic premise of financial liberalization. The paper argues that under certain conditions, government intervention in the form of directed credit programmes would not only act as an effective instrument in ushering financial development, but also provide important guidelines in ensuring sustainability of institutions.     

金融约束、代理成本假说与企业投资行为——来自中国上市公司的经验证据

Financial constraints due to the imperfection of capital market have been emphasized as an important factors determining investment by researchers recently. Beside of which, the soft budget constraints (SBC) and agency problem caused by dual property structure of enterprise system are even more important for investment in transitional China. Combing the background of aggregate investment, this paper analyzes the investment behavior and its inner mechanism of listed company in China from different views of SBC, agency cost theory and financial constraints. Based on the empirical study of 1 373 listed company, we find there is indeed some differences for SOE and non-SOE in the aspect of financial constraints even the hypothesis on nexus of cash flow and investment fails. Evidence has been found to support that principal-agency problem in the background of SBC and financial constraints can explain the investment behavior of listed company jointly, which provides another way to interpret the investment behavior of listed company in transitional country. __________ Translated from Nankai Jingji Yanjiu 南开经济研究 (Nankai Economic Studies), 2008, (1): 3–18     

要素积累、政府政策与我国城乡收入差距

基于1987—2003年省级面板数据的估计结果显示,一方面,基础教育的普及有利于缩小城乡收入差距,而资金和高水平人力资本向城市集聚则会显著扩大城乡收入差距,这体现了城乡要素积累差异。另一方面,城市化明显地缩小了城乡收入差距,对外开放和财政支出的扩大都拉大了城乡收入差距,这体现了政府政策的影响。     

我国区域金融发展与经济发展关系再研究——基于我国三大区域面板数据的检验和分析

笔者基于我国东、中、西部1978年～ 2007年省际面板数据,运用面板单位根检验、协整检验及误差修正模型,对我国三大区域金融发展与其经济增长、产业结构、城市化之间的长期和短期关系进行了比较研究.研究表明三大区域金融发展与其经济增长、产业结构、城市化之间的关系具有明显的区域差异.东部的金融发展,不论在长期还是短期,均能助推其经济增长、产业结构优化升级和城市化进程,但在促进经济增长过程中也带来了通货膨胀的负效应;中西部的金融发展虽然在长期能引导其经济增长、产业结构升级及城市化进程,但短期因果关系并不成立;中部金融塌陷明显,而西部金融发展对城市化的边际贡献最小.