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The Economics of Microfinance
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 332
EAN: 9780262012164
ISBN: 0262012162
Label: The MIT Press
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 360
Publication Date: June 01, 2005
Publisher: The MIT Press
Studio: The MIT Press
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Editorial Review:
The microfinance revolution, begun with independent initiatives in Latin America and South Asia starting in the 1970s, has so far allowed 65 million poor people around the world to receive small loans without collateral, build up assets, and buy insurance. This comprehensive survey of microfinance seeks to bridge the gap in the existing literature on microfinance between academic economists and practitioners. Both authors have pursued the subject not only in academia but in the field; Beatriz Armendariz founded a microfinance bank in Chiapas, Mexico, and Jonathan Morduch has done fieldwork in Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia.
The authors move beyond the usual theoretical focus in the microfinance literature and draw on new developments in theories of contracts and incentives. They challenge conventional assumptions about how poor households save and build assets and how institutions can overcome market failures. The book provides an overview of microfinance by addressing a range of issues, including lessons from informal markets, savings and insurance, the role of women, the place of subsidies, impact measurement, and management incentives. It integrates theory with empirical data, citing studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and introducing ideas about asymmetric information, principal-agent theory, and household decision making in the context of microfinance.
The Economics of Microfinance can be used by students in economics, public policy, and development studies. Mathematical notation is used to clarify some arguments, but the main points can be grasped without the math. Each chapter ends with analytically challenging exercises for advanced economics students.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Straightforward yet in-depth
It is well-written in a way that it present the materials clearly in words and in mathematical formula. If you don't have much apetite for quant, you can still skip those formula and won't get lost in between chapters.
The questions raised at the end of the chapter is inspiring. It really let you think beyond what you've just read.
Rating:  - From microloans to microsaving and beyond
Microfinance is most famous as microlending, whose most famous representative is Bangladesh's Grameen Bank. Grameen, and its founder Mohammad Yunus, won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for their aid to the poor. The idea, with which most people are probably familiar, is that the bank loans some of the world's most destitute people small amounts of money -- $100 or less, typically -- for some vital bit of capital. Borrowers might use the money to buy a sewing machine, for instance, which they can then ... Read More
Rating: - A splendid overview
This book provides a splendid overview of what economists have learned so far about micro-finance. The book requires some knowledge of economics and econometrics, but most of it can be read and understood even with just the kind of background a good econ undergraduate will have.
The field is developing quickly, and so there are already several contributions which are not covered (see e.g. work that folks such as Dean Karlan and coauthors are doing), but overall the coverage is excellent ... Read More
Rating: - An eye opener
To those that, as i am, have an Economics background and are just grasping the all immense universe that microfinance is becoming, this book opens perspectives and clears some very important issues. Issues such as the value of interest charging or the many different ways there actually are to build a microfinance initiative or the value of professional dedication to make it an effective and efficient working and sustainable intervention ... A must have!
Rating: - Great book for self-teaching
After reading "Banker to the Poor," I was interested in getting a bit more of an unbiased view of the subject of microfinance. The authors' views are clear and concise about each topic, plus they offer lots of other sources for the information. While it is obviously intended as s textbook, this book is a great way to teach yourself about the theory and empirical studies about microfinance.
I could not have chosen a better book than this one.
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