This paper explores the influences of financial deepening on growth and its volatility. Following a review of the theoretical literature that has attempted to explain these relationships, the paper presents time series evidence for the cases of Mexico and the US. The results suggest that, in the...

Summary Channels for the influence of microfinance programs on a rural household's demand for schooling are identified: income growth, risk management, child-labor demand, gender empowerment, and parent information. Within a random-utility framework, a model of household consumption, investment...

This article examines the role that regulated Micro Finance Organizations (MFO) have played in the Bolivian financial sector development. Using occasional references, the paper also acknowledges the contribution of non-regulated MFO in improving welfare of poor population sectors. Among policy...

This book reviews the theory and practice of rural finance in the Latin American and Caribbean region. It explains why rural financial markets function the way they do and what changes would be needed to make improvements. It also provides an in-depth assessment of the policy and institutional...