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MicrofinanceFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article contains too much  jargon and may need simplification or furtherexplanation. Please discuss this issue on the talk page, and/or remove or explain

 jargon terms used in the article.Editing help is available. (January 2010)

Community-based savings bank in Cambodia. There is a rich variety of financial institutions serving poor people.

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups

including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related

services.

More broadly, it is a movement whose obect is !a world in which as many poor and near-poor

households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high "uality financial

services, including not ust credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers.!#$% Those who

promote microfinance generally believe that such access will help poor people out of poverty.

Contents

 [hide

! "hallenges

# $oundaries and principles

% &ebates at the boundaries

' (inancial needs of poor people

) *ays in +hich poor people manage their money

"urrent scale of microfinance operations

- nclusive financial systems

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0 1icrocredit and the +eb

2 Evidence for reducing poverty

!3 1icrofinance and 4ocial nterventions

!! 5ther criticisms

!# $ibliography

!% 4ee also

!' 6otes

!) External links

[edit]Challenges

Traditionally, banks have not provided financial services, such as loans, to clients with little or no cash

income. &anks incur substantial costs to manage a client account, regardless of how small the sums of 

money involved. For e'ample, although the total gross revenue from delivering one hundred loans

worth ($,))) each will not differ greatly from the revenue that results from delivering one loan of

($)),))), it takes nearly a hundred times as much work and cost to manage a hundred loans as it

does to manage one. The fi'ed cost of processing loans of any si*e is considerable as assessment of

potential borrowers, their repayment prospects and security+ administration of outstanding loans,

collecting from delin"uent borrowers, etc., has to be done in all cases. There is a break-even point in

providing loans or deposits below which banks lose money on each transaction they make. oor

people usually fall below that breakeven point. similar e"uation resists efforts to deliver other

financial services to poor people.

n addition, most poor people have few assets that can be secured by a bank as collateral. s

documented e'tensively by /oto and others, even if they happen to own land in the developing world,

they may not have effective title to it.#0% This means that the bank will have little recourse

against defaulting borrowers.

/een from a broader perspective, the development of a healthy national financial system has long

been viewed as a catalyst for the broader goal of national economic development 1see for

e'ample  le'ander 2erschenkron, aul 3osenstein-3odan, 4oseph /chumpeter ,  nne 5rueger  6.

7owever, the efforts of national planners and e'perts to develop financial services for most people

have often failed in developing countries, for reasons summari*ed well by dams, 2raham 8 9on

ischke in their classic analysis :;ndermining 3ural studies of informal money

lending rates in $? countries in  sia, @atin merica and frica concluded that AB of moneylender

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rates e'ceed $) per month, including 00 that e'ceeded $)) per month. Moneylenders usually

charge higher rates to poorer borrowers than to less poor ones.#?% While moneylenders are often

demoni*ed and accused of  usury, their services are convenient and fast, and they can be very fle'ible

when borrowers run into problems. 7opes of "uickly putting them out of business have proven

unrealistic, even in places where microfinance institutions are active.#citation needed %

Dver the past centuries practical visionaries, from the Franciscan monks who founded the community-

oriented pawnshops of the $Eth century, to the founders of the uropean credit union movement in the

$Gth century 1such as Friedrich Wilhelm 3aiffeisen6 and the founders of the micro credit movement in

the $GA)s 1such as Muhammad Hunus6 have tested practices and built institutions designed to bring

the kinds of opportunities and risk-management tools that financial services can provide to the

doorsteps of poor people. #E% While the success of the2rameen &ank 1which now serves over A million

poor &angladeshi women6 has inspired the world, it has proved difficult to replicate this success. n

nations with lower population densities, meeting the operating costs of a retail branch by serving

nearby customers has proven considerably more challenging. 7ans

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/ome principles that summari*e a century and a half of development practice were encapsulated in

0))? by Consultative 2roup to ssist the oor 1C26 and endorsed by the 2roup of ight leaders at

the 2> /ummit on 4une $), 0))?I #E%

$. oor people need not ust loans but also savings, insurance and money transfer  services.0. Microfinance must be useful to poor householdsI helping them raise income, build up assets

andJor cushion themselves against e'ternal shocks.

=. !Microfinance can pay for itself.!#>% /ubsidies from donors and government are scarce and

uncertain, and so to reach large numbers of poor people, microfinance must pay for itself.

?. Microfinance means building permanent local institutions.

E. Microfinance also means integrating the financial needs of poor people into a country:s

mainstream financial system.

B. !The ob of government is to enable financial services, not to provide them.!#G%

A. !. !The key bottleneck is the shortage of strong institutions and managers.!#G% 

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poor people gained access to loans from micro credit institutions however, it became apparent that the

services of moneylenders continued to be valued. &orrowers were prepared to pay very high interest

rates for services like "uick loan disbursement, confidentiality and fle'ible repayment schedules. They

did not always see lower interest rates as ade"uate compensation for the costs of attending meetings,

attending training courses to "ualify for disbursements or making monthly collateral contributions. They

also found it distasteful to be forced to pretend they were borrowing to start a business, when they

were often borrowing for other reasons 1such as paying for school fees, dealing with health costs or

securing the family food supply6.#$)% The more recent focus on inclusive financial systems 1see section

below6 affords moneylenders more legitimacy, arguing in favor of regulation and efforts to

increase competition between them to e'pand the options available to poor people.

Modern microfinance emerged in the $GA)s with a strong orientation towards private-sector solutions.

This resulted from evidence that state-owned agricultural development banks in developing countries

had been a monumental failure, actually undermining the development goals they were intended to

serve 1see the compilation edited by dams, 2raham 8 9on ischke6.#=% Levertheless public officials in

many countries hold a different view, and continue to intervene in microfinance markets.

There has been a long-standing debate over the sharpness of the trade-off between :outreach: 1the

ability of a microfinance institution to reach poorer and more remote people6 and its :sustainability: 1its

ability to cover its operating costsand possibly also its costs of serving new clientsfrom its

operating revenues6.#$$% lthough it is generally agreed that microfinance practitioners should seek to

balance these goals to some e'tent, there are a wide variety of strategies, ranging from the minimalist

profit-orientation of &anco/ol in &olivia to the highly integrated not-for-profit orientationof  &3C in &angladesh. This is true not only for individual institutions, but also for governments

engaged in developing national microfinance systems.

Microfinance e'perts generally agree that women should be the primary focus of service delivery.

vidence shows that they are less likely to default on their loans than men. ndustry data from 0))B for 

A)? MFs reaching E0 million borrowers includes MFs using the lending methodology 1GG.= female

clients6 and MFs using individual lending 1E$ female clients6. The delin"uency rate for solidarity

lending was ).G after =) days 1individual lending=.$6, while ).= of loans were written off

1individual lending).G6.

#$0%

 &ecause operating margins become tighter the smaller the loansdelivered, many MFs consider the risk of lending to men to be too high. This focus on women is

"uestioned sometimes, however. recent study of microenterpreneurs from /ri @anka published by

the World &ank found that the return on capital for male-owned businesses 1half of the sample6

averaged $$, whereas the return for women-owned businesses was ) or slightly negative.#$=%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidentialityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidentialityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-Adams.2C_Dale_W._1984-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-Adams.2C_Dale_W._1984-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BancoSol&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boliviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boliviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boliviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAC_(NGO)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAC_(NGO)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladeshhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidentialityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-Adams.2C_Dale_W._1984-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BancoSol&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boliviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRAC_(NGO)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladeshhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-12

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Microfinancial services may be needed everywhere, including the developed world. #citation needed % 7owever,

in developed economies intense competition within the financial sector, combined with a diverse mi' of 

different types of financial institutions with different missions, ensures that most people have access to

some financial services.#citation needed % fforts to transfer microfinance innovations such as solidarity

lendingfrom developing countries to developed ones have met with little success. #$?%

[edit]Financial needs of poor people

Financial needs and financial services.

n developing economies and particularly in the rural areas, many activities that would be classified in

the developed world as financial are not moneti*edI that is, money is not used to carry them out.

 lmost by definition, poor people have very little money. &ut circumstances often arise in their lives in

which they need money or the things money can buy.

n /tuart 3utherfordNs recent book The Poor and Their Money , he cites several types of needsI#$E%

Lifecycle NeedsI such as weddings, funerals, childbirth, education, homebuilding, widowhood,

old age.

Personal EmergenciesI such as sickness, inury, unemployment, theft, harassment or death.

DisastersI such as fires, floods, cyclones and man-made events like war or bulldo*ing of

dwellings.

Investment OpportunitiesI e'panding a business, buying land or e"uipment, improving

housing, securing a ob 1which often re"uires paying a large bribe6, etc.

oor people find creative and often collaborative ways to meet these needs, primarily through creating

and e'changing different forms of non-cash value. Common substitutes for cash vary from country to

country but typically include livestock, grains, ewellery and precious metals.

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 s Marguerite 3obinson describes in The Microfinance 3evolution, the $G>)s demonstrated that

!microfinance could provide large-scale outreach profitably,! and in the $GG)s, !microfinance began to

develop as an industry! 10))$, p. E?6. n the 0)))s, the microfinance industry:s obective is to satisfy

the unmet demand on a much larger scale, and to play a role in reducing poverty. While much

progress has been made in developing a viable, commercial microfinance sector in the last few

decades, several issues remain that need to be addressed before the industry will be able to satisfy

massive worldwide demand. The obstacles or challenges to building a sound commercial microfinance

industry includeI

nappropriate donor  subsidies

oor regulation and supervision of deposit-taking MFs

Few MFs that meet the needs for savings, remittances or insurance

@imited management capacity in MFs

nstitutional inefficiencies

Leed for more dissemination and adoption of rural, agricultural microfinance methodologies

[edit]Ways in which poor people manage their money

/aving up

3utherford argues that the basic problem poor people as money managers face is to gather a :usefully

large: amount of money. &uilding a new home may involve saving and protecting diverse building

materials for years until enough are available to proceed with construction. ChildrenNs schooling may

be funded by buying chickens and raising them for sale as needed for e'penses, uniforms, bribes, etc.

&ecause all the value is accumulated before it is needed, this money management strategy is referred

to as :saving up:.#citation needed %

Dften people don:t have enough money when they face a need, so they borrow. poor family might

borrow from relatives to buy land, from a moneylender to buy rice, or from a microfinance institution to

buy a sewing machine. /ince these loans must be repaid by saving after the cost is incurred,

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3utherford calls this :saving down:. 3utherford:s point is that microcredit is addressing only half the

problem, and arguably the less important halfI poor people borrow to help them save and accumulate

assets. Microcredit institutions should fund their loans through savings accounts that help poor people

manage their myriad risks.#citation needed %

/aving down

Most needs are met through mi' of saving and credit. benchmark impact assessment of 2rameen

&ank and two other large microfinance institutions in &angladesh found that for every ($ they were

lending to clients to finance rural non-farm micro-enterprise, about (0.E) came from other sources,

mostly their clients: savings.#$B% This parallels the e'perience in the West, in which family businesses

are funded mostly from savings, especially during start-up.

3ecent studies have also shown that informal methods of saving are unsafe. For e'ample a study by

Wright and Mutesasira in ;ganda concluded that !those with no option but to save in the informal

sector are almost bound to lose some money K probably around one "uarter of what they savethere.!#$A%

The work of 3utherford, Wright and others has caused practitioners to reconsider a key aspect of the

microcredit paradigmI that poor people get out of poverty by borrowing, building microenterprises and

increasing their income. The new paradigm places more attention on the efforts of poor people to

reduce their many vulnerabilities by keeping more of what they earn and building up their assets. While

they need loans, they may find it as useful to borrow for consumption as for microenterprise. safe,

fle'ible place to save money and withdraw it when needed is also essential for managing household

and family risk.#citation needed %

[edit]Current scale of microfinance operations

Lo systematic effort to map the distribution of microfinance has yet been undertaken. useful recent

benchmark was established by an analysis of :alternative financial institutions: in the developing world

in 0))?.#$>% The authors counted appro'imately BBE million client accounts at over =,))) institutions

that are serving people who are poorer than those served by the commercial banks. Df these

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accounts, $0) million were with institutions normally understood to practice microfinance. 3eflecting

the diverse historical roots of the movement, however, they also included postal savings banks 1=$>

million accounts6, state agricultural and development banks 1$A0 million accounts6,

financialcooperatives and credit unions 1=E million accounts6 and speciali*ed rural banks 1$G million

accounts6.

3egionally the highest concentration of these accounts was in ndia 1$>> million accounts representing

$> of the total national population6. The lowest concentrations were in @atin merican and

the Caribbean 1$? million accounts representing = of the total population6 and frica10A million

accounts representing ? of the total population, with the highest rate of penetration in West frica,

and the highest growth rate in astern and /outhern frica #$G% 6. Considering that most bank clients in

the developed world need several active accounts to keep their affairs in order, these figures indicate

that the task the microfinance movement has set for itself is still very far from finished.

&y type of service !savings accounts in alternative finance institutions outnumber loans by about four

to one. This is a worldwide pattern that does not vary much by region.!#0)%

 n important source of detailed data on selected microfinance institutions is the MicroBanking Bulletin,

which is published by Microfinance nformation 'change. t the end of 0))G it was tracking $,)>?

MFs that were serving A? million borrowers 1(=> billion in outstanding loans6 and BA million savers

1(0= billion in deposits6.#0$%

 s yet there are no studies that indicate the scale or distribution of :informal: microfinance

organi*ations like 3D/C:s and informal associations that help people manage costs like weddings,

funerals and sickness. Lumerous case studies have been published however, indicating that these

organi*ations, which are generally designed and managed by poor people themselves with little

outside help, operate in most countries in the developing world. #00%

7elp can come in the form of more and better "ualified staff, thus higher education is needed for

microfinance institutions. This has begun in some universities, as Dliver /chmidt describes. Mind the

management gap

[edit]"Inclusie financial systems"

The microcredit era that began in the $GA)s has lost its momentum, to be replaced by a :financial

systems: approach. While microcredit achieved a great deal, especially in urban and near-urban areas

and with entrepreneurial families, its progress in delivering financial services in less densely populated

rural areas has been slow.

The new financial systems approach pragmatically acknowledges the richness of centuries of

microfinance history and the immense diversity of institutions serving poor people in developing world

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_bankhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_bankhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_bankhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_bankhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperativeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_unionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Americanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbeanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance_Information_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance_Information_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance_Information_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROSCAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROSCAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-21http://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/166627/index.en.shtmlhttp://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/166627/index.en.shtmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microfinance&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microfinance&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcredithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcredithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_bankhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_bankhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperativeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_unionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Americanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbeanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance_Information_Exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROSCAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance#cite_note-21http://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/166627/index.en.shtmlhttp://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/166627/index.en.shtmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microfinance&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcredithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurial

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today. t is also rooted in an increasing awareness of diversity of the financial service needs of the

worldNs poorest people, and the diverse settings in which they live and work.

&rigit 7elms in her book :ccess for llI &uilding nclusive Financial /ystems:, distinguishes between

four general categories of microfinance providers, and argues for a pro-active strategy of engagement

with all of them to help them achieve the goals of the microfinance movement.#0=%

Informal financial serice proiders

These include moneylenders, pawnbrokers, savings collectors, money-guards, 

3D/Cs, /Cs and input supply shops. &ecause they know each other well and live in the

same community, they understand each otherNs financial circumstances and can offer very

fle'ible, convenient and fast services. These services can also be costly and the choice of

financial products limited and very short-term. nformal services that involve savings are also

risky+ many people lose their money.

Member!owned organiations

These include self-help groups, credit unions, and a variety of hybrid organi*ations like

:financial service associations: and C9Cs. @ike their informal cousins, they are generally

small and local, which means they have access to good knowledge about each others:

financial circumstances and can offer convenience and fle'ibility. /ince they are managed by

poor people, their costs of operation are low. 7owever, these providers may have little

financial skill and can run into trouble when the economy turns down or their operations

become too comple'. ;nless they are effectively regulated and supervised, they can be

:captured: by one or two influential leaders, and the members can lose their money.

#$%s

The Microcredit /ummit Campaign counted =,=$B of these MFs and L2Ds lending to about

$== million clients by the end of 0))B. #0?%@ed by 2rameen

&ank and &3C in &angladesh, rodem in &olivia, and FLC nternational, head"uartered in

Washington,

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supervised, offer a wider range of financial services, and control a branch network that can

e'tend across the country and internationally. 7owever, they have proved reluctant to adopt

social missions, and due to their high costs of operation, often can:t deliver services to poor or 

remote populations. The increasing use of  alternative data in credit scoring, such astrade

credit is increasing commercial banks: interest in microfinance.#0E%

With appropriate regulation and supervision, each of these institutional types

can bring leverage to solving the microfinance problem. For e'ample, efforts

are being made to link self-help groups to commercial banks, to network

member-owned organi*ations together to achieve economies of scale and

scope, and to support efforts by commercial banks to :down-scale: by

integrating mobile banking and e-payment technologies into their e'tensive

branch networks.

[edit]Microcredit and the web

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#citation needed % This assertion has been the source of considerable criticism.

#0>% 3esearch on the actual effectiveness of microfinance as a tool for economic

development remains slim, in part owing to the difficulty in monitoring and

measuring this impact.#0G%  t the 0))>nnovations for overty ctionJFinancial

 ccess nitiative Microfinance 3esearch conference, economist 4onathan

Morduch of  Lew Hork ;niversity noted there are only one or two

methodologically sound studies of microfinance:s impact. #=)%

The &&C Business eekly  program reported that much of the supposed

benefits associated with microfinance, are perhaps not as compelling as once

thought. n a radio interview with rofessor  

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employed rigorous methods such as randomi*ed control trials similar to those

reported by nnovations for overty ction and the M..T. 4ameel overty ction

@ab. Dne of these studies found that microfinance reduced poverty. Two others

were unable to conclude that microfinance reduced poverty, although they

attributed some positive effects to the program. Dther studies concluded

similarly, with surveys finding that a maority of participants feel better about

finances with some feeling worse. #=?%

[edit]Microfinance and 'ocial Interentions

There are currently a few social interventions that have been combined with

micro financing to increase awareness of 79J

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The role of donors has also been "uestioned. The Consultative 2roup to ssist

the oor 1C26 recently commented that !a large proportion of the money

they spend is not effective, either because it gets hung up in unsuccessful and

often complicated funding mechanisms 1for e'ample, a government ape'

facility6, or it goes to partners that are not held accountable for performance. n

some cases, poorly conceived programs have retarded the development of

inclusive financial systems by distorting markets and displacing domestic

commercial initiatives with cheap or free money.!#?)%

There has also been criticism of microlenders for not taking more responsibility

for the working conditions of poor households, particularly when borrowers

become "uasi-wage labourers, selling crafts or agricultural produce through an

organi*ation controlled by the MF. The desire of MFs to help their borrower

diversify and increase their incomes has sparked this type of relationship in

several countries, most notably&angladesh, where hundreds of thousands of

borrowers effectively work as wage labourers for the marketing subsidiaries

of 2rameen &ank or &3C. Critics maintain that there are few if any rules or

standards in these cases governing working hours, holidays, working

conditions, safety or child labour, and few inspection regimes to correct abuses.

#?$% /ome of these concerns have been taken up by unions and socially

responsible investment advocates.

For e'ample, Businesseek  reported that some Me'icans are stumbling withterms of newly available funding. #?0%#?=%

Dther criticism was raised by the D 1nitial ublic Dffering6 of a Me'ican

MF &anco Compartamos in 0))A. s the company put its shares on Me'ican

/tock 'change it was able to generate very high profits that were achieved by

rising interest rates on their micro-loans that at some point reached >B per

year .#??% n 4uly 0)$) ndia:s biggest MF, /5/ Microfinance also went public. n

both instances Muhammad Hunus publicly stated his disagreement, saying that

the poor should be the only beneficiaries of microfinance.

#?E%#?B%

[edit]Bibliography

 dams,

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de ghion, &eatri* rmendOri* 8 4onathan Morduch. The Economics of

Microfinance, The MT ress, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 0))E.

&ranch, &rian 8 4anette 5laehn. %triking the Balance in Microfinance& '

Practical (uide to Mo)ili*ing %avings. CT ublications, Washington,

0))0.

Christen, 3obert eck, 4ayadeva, 9eena 8 3ichard 3osenberg. +inancial

Institutions #ith a Dou)le Bottom Line. Consultative 2roup to ssist the

oor, Washington 0))?.

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3aiffeisen, FW 1translated from the 2erman by 5onrad ngelmann6. The

$redit !nions. The 3aiffeisen rinting 8 ublishing Company, Leuwied on

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3utherford, /tuart. The Poor and Their Money . D'ford ;niversity ress,

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=. Q a b dams, G

$$. ( /ee for e'ample drian 2on*ale* 8 3ichard 3osenberg. The state of

microfinance& outreach/ profita)ility and poverty , Consultative 2roup to

 ssist the oor, 0))B.

$0. ( Microfinance nformation 'change, nc. 10))A-)>-)$6.!Micro&anking

&ulletin ssue P$E, utumn, 0))A, pp. ?B,?G!. Microfinance nformation

'change, nc.. 3etrieved 0)$)-)$-$E.

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0))>-$)-$A.

$?. ( /ee for e'ample Cheryl Frankiewic* $almeado# Metrofund& a $anadian

e2periment in sustaina)le microfinance, Calmeadow Foundation, 0))$.

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0). ( Christen, 3osenberg 8 4ayadeva. +inancial institutions #ith a dou)le1

)ottom line, pp. E-B

0$. ( Microfinance nformation 'change, nc. 10))G-$0-)$6.!Micro&anking

&ulletin ssue P$G,

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=?. ( Westover 4. 10))>6. The 3ecord of MicrofinanceI The

ffectivenessJneffectiveness of Microfinance rograms as a Means of

 lleviating overty. Electronic 7ournal of %ociology .

=E. ( 5im, 4.C., Watts, C. 7., 7argreaves, 4. 3., Ldhlovu, @. S., hetla, 2.,

Morison, @. ., et al. 10))A6. ;nderstanding the impact of a microfinance-

based intervention of women:s empowerment and the reduction of intimate

partner violence in /outh frica. merican 4ournal of ublic 7ealth.

=B. ( /tephen C. /mith, !9illage &anking and Maternal and Child 7ealthI

vidence from cuador and 7onduras,! World

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