Addressing crises raises a sharp reference-class problem in economics. Namely, economic theory lacks an inclusive and consistent classification of crises. This problem stems from the fact that economists tend to adapt their views on crises to recent episodes, and omit averted and potential...

Economists have been blamed for their inability to forecast and address crises. This paper attributes this inability to intertwined factors: the lack of a coherent definition of crises, the reference class problem, the lack of imagination regarding the nature of future crises, and sample...

Nous analysons un épisode important dans l'évolution de la théorie des probabilités: la phase d'axiomatisation. La première approche de ce type fut proposée par Mises en 1919. Elle s'appuie sur le concept de «collectif». La probabilité y est définie comme la valeur-limite de la...

Using a survey of a large group of first and final-year students of different disciplines, to study their belief in the existence of mutual benefits of voluntary transactions, we observe significant differences between economics and business students on the one hand, and students of other...

Microfinance is increasingly seen as a major development tool. Its promise to help the poor by providing financial services is seen as the major reason for its support. Nevertheless, its effectiveness on actual poverty reduction is not yet clear and therefore it generates some unresolved ethical...

Using data from 319 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 68 developing countries, we study the degree to which international debt investments are related to the financial and social performances of MFIs. We find that commercial investments are mainly related to financial performance and level of...

The unequal treatment of children is not gender neutral from the parent side. Our results show that women try to compensate through debt for the unbalanced situation faced by their daughters compared to their sons. However, the lack of symmetry between mothers' and fathers' financial situations...

There is now an increasing consensus that the effects of microfinance on self-employment are limited, with two common interpretations. The microeconomic approach suggests that the poor lack the skills, the resources and the motivation to start their own business. The macroeconomic approach...

The paper presents a social innovation as an innovative business model with new social relations and indicates a few short cases to indicate how a social problem was addressed by a social innovation by entrepreneurial actions by microfinance service providers. The cases are from microcredit,...

Conventional wisdom associates the success of microfinance group lending with joint liability only. Recent studies have pinpointed the role of social capital, around which the successful implementation of joint liability contracts seems to revolve. This paper brings together all relevant...