In the decade before the Great Famine, Ireland experienced a boom in microfinance institutions (MFIs). Taking a social enterprise perspective, this paper analyses the institutional context for this boom. It finds evidence linking the boom in MFIs to the development, via the introduction of the...

There is a growing realization that business development is the most effective weapon in fighting world poverty. How the for-profit model can be harnessed to provide the poor with a share in the world's prosperity is discussed through actual cases, and nested in innovative theories of business,...

There is a growing realization that business development is the most effective weapon in fighting world poverty. How the for-profit model can be harnessed to provide the poor with a share in the world's prosperity is discussed through actual cases, and nested in innovative theories of business,...

2006 erhielt M. Yunus den Friedensnobelpreis für die Gründung der Grameen-Banks, die durch die Vergabe von Kleinstkrediten, vorrangig an Dorfbewohnerinnen, wirksam Armut bekämpfen, nachzulesen in M. Yunus: "Für eine Welt ohne Armut" (hier zuletzt ID 52/06) und bei P. Spiegel (BA 2/07). Hier...

Social transfer programmes in developing countries are designed to contribute to poverty reduction by increasing the income of the poor in order to ensure minimal living standards. In addition, social transfers provide a safety net for the vulnerable, who are typically not covered by...

Women are more likely than men to work in the informal sector and to drop out of the labor force for a time, such as after childbirth, and to be impeded by social norms from working in the formal sector. This work pattern undermines productivity, increases women's vulnerability to income shocks,...