This book presents but a few examples of the many Bank-financed productive activities carried out by the people of the region, and pays tribute to the women and men who, in their efforts to succeed, daily renew their hopes for a better future. In addition, the book pays tribute to the...

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...

It has been established that access to profitable markets is a key factor which determines the long-term success for all businesses. For small and microenterprises, however, various constraints limit this access, such as inadequate technology, geographic isolation, lack of raw materials and...

Una de las decisiones clave que tienen que tomar los banqueros que estén considerando operar en el nicho de mercado de las microfinanzas es si quieren otorgar microcréditos internamente o quieren hacerlo a través de algún tipo de organización externa como una compañía de servicio o una...

En este documento se examinan los elementos principales de la tecnología de banca comunal y cómo ésta ha flexibilizado sus características rígidas iniciales desde su introducción en los años 80, en particular en cuatro instituciones líderes de banca comunal en América Latina. Luego se...

En este trabajo se describe la manera de otorgar financiamiento para equipo --arrendamiento y préstamo-- para los microempresarios objeto del estudio, es decir, los que necesitan aproximadamente entre 50 y 2.500 dólares para adquirir equipo. El trabajo examina los pro y los contra de las dos...

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...

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 Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ) was originally set up for three years as a time-bound pilot initiative. The OMJ team has worked diligently to test the Base of the Pyramid model and develop the OMJ portfolio, and from that standpoint the initiative has been successful....