The Handbook Of Microfinance

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E-Book Overview

The Handbook of Microfinance showcases an expansive collection of works from leading academics and field practitioners. In an attempt to understand the enormous gap between the limited number of clients that are currently benefiting from microfinance services, and the huge number of potential clients that are not, the selected contributions in this comprehensive handbook have one common thread: the prevailing mismatch between demand by clients of microfinance institutions and potential clients selecting themselves out for their demand for a wider array of financial products which is not being met. The scope of the book is wide, and explores successes and failures, main challenges and debates, methodologies for impact evaluation via random trials, leading trends in Asia versus Latin America, main efforts in Africa, the importance of value chains in Central America, ethical and gender issues, savings, microinsurance, governance, commercialization trends and the potential advantages and disadvantages of it. This exhaustive Handbook also features main lessons from informal finance and 19th-century credit cooperatives addressing the above-mentioned mismatch.

E-Book Content

THE HANDBOOK OF MICROFINANCE 7645 tp.indd 1 4/5/11 1:58 PM This page intentionally left blank THE HANDBOOK OF MICROFINANCE edited by Beatriz Armendáriz University College London, UK & Harvard University, USA Marc Labie Université de Mons, Belgium World Scientific NEW JERSEY 7645 tp.indd 2 • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TA I P E I • CHENNAI 4/5/11 1:58 PM This page intentionally left blank Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. THE HANDBOOK OF MICROFINANCE Copyright © 2011 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN-13 978-981-4295-65-9 ISBN-10 981-4295-65-5 Typeset by Stallion Press Email: [email protected] Printed in Singapore. Samantha - The Handbook of Microfinance.pmd1 5/9/2011, 3:26 PM March 22, 2011 15:43 9.75in x 6.5in b980-fm Handbook of Microfinance v Para Georges-Antoine, Beatriz A mes parents, Marc FA March 22, 2011 15:43 9.75in x 6.5in b980-fm Handbook of Microfinance Contents CERMi xi Biographical Notes xiii Acknowledgments xxxi Introduction 1 Introduction and Overview: An Inquiry into the Mismatch in Microfinance 3 Beatriz Armend´ ariz and Marc Labie Part I. Understanding Microfinance Practices Microfinance Evaluation Strategies: Notes on Me