Guides -- MicroFinance
What is Microfinance?
Recommended Websites
Recommended Databases
Microfinance Books@Emory
Microfinance is the provision of a broad range of financial services such as deposits, loans, payment services, money transfers, and insurance to poor and low-income households and, their microenterprises.
Microfinance is an approach that has been proven to empower people around the world to pull themselves out of poverty. Relying on their traditional skills and entrepreneurial instincts, receipients of small loans (usually less than US$200), other financial services, and support from local organizations called microfinance iinstitutions (MFIs) to start, establish, sustain, or expand very small, self-supporting businesses. A key to microfinance is the recycling of loan dollars. As each loan is repaid—usually within six months to a year—the money is recycled as another loan, thus multiplying the value of each dollar in defeating global poverty, and changing lives and communities.
Microfinance services are provided by three types of sources:
- formal institutions, such as rural banks and cooperatives;
- semiformal institutions, such as nongovernment organizations; and
- informal sources such as money lenders and shopkeepers.
Source: Grameen Foundation (http://www.grameenfoundation.org)
Grameen Foundation
The Grameen Foundation uses microfinance and innovative technology to fight global poverty and bring opportunities to the world's poorest people.
Government Innovators network (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University)
Includes articles, discussion threads, whiate papers, and news relating to microfinance, payment systems, soft debt, risk management, and investment policy.
Consultive Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
CGAP is a consortium of 33 public and private development agencies working together to expand access to financial services for the poor in developing countries. It is a resource center for the entire microfinance industry, incubating and supporting new ideas, innovative products, cutting-edge technology, novel mechanisms for delivering financial services, and concrete solutions to the challenges of expanding microfinance.
Centre for Micro Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research
CMF supports research initiatives aimed at understanding innovations and designs that have the potential to overcome information asymmetries characteristic of the under-served segments in India and to expand access to financial services for these populations.
Microfinance Gateway
This site provides you with links to recent news, organizations, web sites, blogs, and more, all focused on microfinance.
Economist.com
Articles, surveys, and special studies published in both the print and web-based versions of The Economist.
- Special Issue on Microfinance, November 3, 2005
- search box: microfinance
- date: November 3, 2005
IISI Emerging Markets
Market research reports, special studies, financial information, news, and more on emerging countries.
- Select Country
- Click Search link
- keyword search: microfinance
- resort by relevancy
Econlit
Fulltext and abtracts from books, journal articles, dissertations, and working papers.
Factiva
Recent news on trends, partnerships, and more.
Microfinance Books@Emory
These books are all available for checkout from the Woodruff Library. Most will be located on the 7th floor of the stack tower.
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