I study microfinance solidarity group lending within a global game framework. Group members invest independently in either a safe or a risky project. Ex ante observation and coordination on the choice of projects is not always possible. Though risky projects allow microentrepreneurs to extract risk premia, safe projects raise the probability of success of the group loan, in which case group mem...

Kalanda, chief executive officer of Opportunity Bank in Malawi, sat in his office reviewing strategic plans for 2008.1 The commercial microfinance bank had doubled in size once again in 2007, and now had more than 150,000 customers.2 In a country where 80 percent of the people live in rural areas with little infrastructure, Opportunity Bank knew that traditional models of microfinance would not...

This essay introduces a new featured section, to be published in Small Axe annually, that explores the critical vocabulary of field Caribbean studies.

This paper not only addresses how linkages, direct and facilitating linkages, can benefit microfinance institutions – and particularly in jurisdictions where the Savings Group Outreach involvement is particularly low, but also illustrates ways and means whereby group lending and other more recent innovative methods used by micro lenders to secure repayments, could increase the desired effects, ...

A good definition of microfinance as provided by Robinson1 is, ‘Microfinance refers to small-scale financial services for both credits and deposits — that are provided to people who farm or fish or herd; operate small or microenterprises where goods are produced, recycled, repaired, or traded; provide services; work for wages or commissions; gain income from renting out small amounts of land, v...

The main contributors to inequities in health relates to widespread poverty. Health cannot be achieved without addressing the social determinants of health, and the answer does not lie in the health sector alone. One of the potential pathways to address vulnerabilities linked to poverty, social exclusion, and empowerment of women is aligning health programmes with empowerment interventions link...

This paper explores how changes in monetary staff incentive contracts affect the productivity of credit officers within microfinance institutions. The study uses a unique data set from five microfinance institutions that includes productivity data at the credit officer level for several months before and after a change in the incentive schemes. In each of the institutions, the monetary incentiv...