The paper is a follow-up to an article published in Technique Financière etDeveloppement in 2000 (see the appendix to the hardcopy version), which portrayedthe first results of a new strategy in the field of development finance implemented inSouth-East Europe. This strategy consists in creating...

In der zweiten Förderphase der EU-Gemeinschaftsinitiativen (1995 - 1997) hatten bereits einige Trägerorganisationen von NOW-Projekten den Aspekt der Existenzgründungförderung als einen Weg aus der Arbeitslosigkeit in ihre Qualifizierungs- und Beratungsarbeit mit aufgenommen.

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of developments in the microfinance sector beforeand after the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 by comparing them with developments intraditional banking sectors of emerging market economies and developing countries. Thefindings indicate that microfinance...

Few micro…nance-funded businesses grow beyond subsistence entrepreneur-ship. This paper considers one possible explanation: that the structure ofexisting micro…nance contracts may discourage risky but high-expected returninvestments. To explore this possibility, I develop a theory that uni…es...

This paper investigates the relationship between inflation uncertainty and the investmentdecisions of small, micro…finance-funded …firms in the Dominican Republic. An extensive literature documents the array of opposing factors linking inflation uncertainty and investment;ultimately this...

Microfinance continues to play an ever increasing role in approaches topoverty alleviation around the world. Yet despite the attention paid tomicrofinance, the design of credit contracts for small uncollateralized loansremains a bit of a mystery. From its inception, microfinance generated agreat...

This paper analyzes the theoretical underpinnings of high-frequency repayment, a featurein nearly all microfi…nance contracts that has been largely overlooked by theorists. The pervasive belief among practitioners that frequent repayment is critical in achieving high repaymentrates is puzzling....

A large body of literature has shown that small firms experience difficulties in accessing the credit market due to informational asymmetries. Banks can overcome these asymmetries through relationship lending, or at least mitigate their effects by asking for collateral. Small firms, especially...

In the paper it is inquired how Sudanese women use the financial institutions in order toorganise their lives between market, household, and the community. The results arebased on interviews and observations done in two villages in the surroundings ofOmdurman (Al Gharaza and Sanahir), displaced...

Microcredit is an innovative financial tool designed to reduce poverty and fix credit marketimperfections. We use experimental measures of time discounting and risk aversion forvillagers in south India to highlight behavioral features of microcredit. Conditional onborrowing from any source,...