This paper presents a conceptual framework for explaining Credit Unions (CUs) loan delinquency and profitability in developing countries. It also offers an empirical estimation for a unique sample of CUs in Latin America.

This paper examines each major element of the village banking technology and how it has been liberalized so far, particularly in four leading Latin American village banking institutions: FINCA Nicaragua, Pro Mujer Bolivia, Compartamos (in Mexico), and CRECER (in Bolivia). It then analyzes how...

The current study gathers together a large database on the funding side of Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs), providing detailed coverage of 61 regulated MFIs in nine Latin American countries with major microfinance markets. The study goes on to examine the relative costs of the...

This journal contains a collection of articles on integration and trade in Latin American and the Caribbean. The topics addressed are as follows: international fragmentation of production and its effects on the labor market, regional production sharing networks in Latin America and East Asia,...

Banks are increasingly entering into microfinance, and donors such as the IDB are increasingly helping them to do so. Despite this trend, banks continue to make a number of common mistakes in attempting to serve the microenterprise sector. A key to successfully serving this sector is to follow...

The protection of intellectual property has been a subject of great contention between developed and developing countries in recent years. Although the Agreement on TRIPs was signed by the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) during the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, its...

This paper describes how to do equipment finance--leasing and lending--for mainstream microentrepreneurs, that is, for those microentrepreneurs needing approximately $50 to $2500 to purchase equipment. Specifically, this paper examines the pros and cons of the two major financing alternatives,...

Esta edición de la Revista Integración & Comercio está dedicada a examinar los factores determinantes y las implicancias de la fragmentación internacional de la producción, desde el punto de vista de América Latina y el Caribe. Gracias a una serie de contribuciones de expertos en este...