
Politics, Poverty, and Microfinance
How Governments Get in the Way of Helping the Poor
Brian Warby(Author)
Lexington Books (Publisher)
Published on 12. September 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
186 pages
978-1-4985-1754-6 (ISBN)
Description
This book analyzes the affect that government institutions have on whether or not microfinance contributes to poverty alleviation in the context of Latin America. It concludes that political and economic stability, as well as and law order, have a statistically significant impact on microfinance effectiveness. The conditions that promote poverty alleviation are not entirely the same as those upon which major microfinance investors base their funding decisions. The result is that much microfinance funding is going to the wrong places. This means that not only is microfinance not helping the poor, but under the wrong conditions it actually exacerbates poverty. The author arrives at these conclusions through a mixed methods approach, using both statistical analysis and case studies.
Reviews / Votes
Dr. Warby's work provides an intriguing new way to think about microfinance. Historically, many scholars have identified microfinance as a substitute for the government in providing services to the poor. For instance, they point out that informal "group lending" overcomes the problem of weak contract enforcement found in many developing countries. However, as Dr. Warby correctly points out, this view ignores the numerous other functions that the government must provide for any private sector activity to develop. Dr. Warby's study thus represents a new generation of research that moves beyond the question of whether microfinance is more effective than the public sector in addressing poverty to look instead at how the two can work together to provide meaningful solutions to this difficult problem. -- Joshua Ault, University of VictoriaMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
5 Graphs, 1 Maps, 6 Tables
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
268 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4985-1754-6 (9781498517546)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
12/2015
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€94.99
Available for download
Person
Brian Warby is assistant professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa.
Content
Chapter 1-Introduction
Chapter 2-What We Know So Far
Chapter 3-A Model of Poverty Reduction
Chapter 4-Looking at the Data
Chapter 5-Microfinance in Brazil: A Case Study
Chapter 6-Is Funding Going Where it can do the Most Good?
Chapter 7-The Future of Microfinance
Chapter 2-What We Know So Far
Chapter 3-A Model of Poverty Reduction
Chapter 4-Looking at the Data
Chapter 5-Microfinance in Brazil: A Case Study
Chapter 6-Is Funding Going Where it can do the Most Good?
Chapter 7-The Future of Microfinance