This paper studies whether microfinance rating agencies were able to impose market discipline on microfinance institutions (MFIs) during the period 1998-2002. Results indicate that not all rating agencies had equal impact. While some rating agencies were able to promote better sustainability,...

Moral hazard is widely reported as a problem in credit and insurance markets, mainly arising from information asymmetry. Although theorists have attempted to explain the success of Joint Liability Lending (JLL) schemes in mitigating moral hazard, empirical studies are rare. This paper...

The microfinance industry in Vietnam, particularly those sponsored by nongovernment organisations (NGOs), has experienced rapid expansion in recent years. Yet in spite of this growth, an analysis of their effectiveness has been lacking. In a bid to help address this shortcoming, this paper...

In this paper we analyze the impact of the EU multi-level co-financing system on regional policy-making and priority setting taking the case of the agri-environmental program of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. The implications of several co-financing scenarios are analyzed and compared to respective...

Many policy makers and businesses erroneously believe that rural populations, particularly in Africa, have no margin for savings over consumption needs. This study examines the potential for financial savings in rural Mozambican households by looking at the determinants of savings behavior. An...

The paper focus on the time adjustment paths of the exchange rate and agricultural producer and industrial prices in response to unanticipated monetary shocks following model developed by Saghaian et al. (2002). We employ Johansen's cointegration test along with a vector error correction model...

The system of agricultural cooperatives, called JA, is one of the most politically powerful organizations in Japan, and it has continuously called for agricultural protection. In spite of its importance, information on JA's banking and insurance businesses has been limited for foreign...

Farm-level diversification involves adding income-generating activities at the farm household level, including livestock, local non-farm and off-farm pursuits undertaken by farm people. The objective of this paper is to consider questions arising from an apparent inconsistency. In this respect,...

The need for more comprehensive development models to capture the behavioural dynamics of peasants in subsistence economies was emphaiszed at the 1976 IAAE Conference (Deaton; Mbithi; and Shapiro). This emphasis is consistent with Polanyi's claim that as a social being, man acts to "safeguard...