Reviews provisions in ILO standards that refer to finance, the financial sector as a whole, financial isntitutions, financial instruments and policies addressed to the financial sector.

Provides a practical tool for the design and implementation of sustainable microfinance interventions, with a particular focus on rural areas. Provides guidance on who to target, how to establish and maintain savings and lending schemes, what kind of training to provide, gender concerns and cost...

Studies the services provided by Islamic banks and considers measures to facilitate their role in the financing of small and medium enterprises in Africa.

In this study, we use firm-level data from the 1993 National Survey of Small Business Finances to test the hypothesis that banking consolidation has reduced the availability of credit to small businesses. We find that banks in markets where mergers have occurred are more likely than other banks...