Resurgence of an Ancient Idea? A Study on the History of Microfinance

Microfinance revolution, as it was frequently called, did not happen overnight. Microfinance has a long history of evolution, from a simple idea to a global movement, through which it came into the present shape. But much of its history is yet to be written systematically. In fact, there is no historical research so far from the perspective of microfinance. Little is thus known about the early history of some of the oldest forms of lending to the poor. The current study offers a historical look at microfinance and aims at documenting the evolution of modern microfinance institutions. The object of the research is to recognize the historical depth of microfinance and give a picture of how this idea emerged and developed overtime. The study reveals that moneylending to the poor was always in existence in various forms in different periods of time in both developing and developed countries. It has a long history, particularly in Asia but also in Africa and Europe.

Download Full-text

Savings banks as an institutional import: the case of nineteenth-century Ireland

Financial History Review ◽

10.1017/s0968565003000027 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 31-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

CORMAC Ó GRÁDA

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Aggregate Data ◽

Early History ◽

Middle Classes ◽

Savings Banks ◽

The Poor ◽

Savings Bank ◽

History Of ◽

And Performance

The article examines the early history of provident institutions or trustee savings banks in Ireland. Combining aggregate data and an archive-based study of one savings bank, it describes the growth and performance of this ‘institutional import’. By and large, Irish savings banks catered for the lower-middle and middle classes, not the poor as intended by the founders of the movement. The article also explains how the collapse of three savings banks in 1848 dealt savings banks in Ireland as a whole a blow from which they never really recovered.

Download Full-text

Capturing Nursing History With Creative Writing: Two Exemplars

Creative Nursing ◽

10.1891/crnr-d-20-00022 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 142-146

Author(s):

Jacqueline K. Owens

Keyword(s):

Creative Writing ◽

Early History ◽

Historical Narrative ◽

Historical Research ◽

Nursing Profession ◽

Nursing History ◽

Narrative Poetry ◽

Florence Nightingale ◽

History Of

Florence Nightingale formally documented much of the early history of the nursing profession, a goal that remains important today to guide our practice. Many nurse scholars have published detailed accounts of historical research. Story-based narratives can be especially effective to describe the contributions of individual nurses in a way that resonates with nurses and lay readers. Two nurses, Terri Arthur and Jeanne Bryner, have successfully disseminated stories of nurses through creative writing. This article describes their journeys to capture nursing history using historical narrative, poetry, and reflective prose.

Download Full-text

Suicide in Developing Countries (2)

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910.26.3.112 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 112-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 118

Author(s):

Lakshmi Vijayakumar ◽

Sujit John ◽

Jane Pirkis ◽

Harvey Whiteford

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Life Events ◽

Suicide Risk ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Low Socioeconomic ◽

History Of ◽

Developing And Developed Countries

Abstract. The majority of studies on risk factors for suicide have been conducted in developed countries, and less work has been done to systematically profile risk factors in developing countries. The current paper presents a selective review of sociodemographic, clinical, and environmental/situational risk factors in developing countries. Taken together, the evidence suggests that the profiles of risk factors in developing countries demonstrate some differences from those in developed countries. In some developing countries, at least, being female, living in a rural area, and holding religious beliefs that sanction suicide may be of more relevance to suicide risk than these factors are in developed countries. Conversely, being single or having a history of mental illness may be of less relevance. Risk factors that appear to be universal include youth or old age, low socioeconomic standing, substance use, and previous suicide attempts. Recent stressful life events play a role in both developing and developed countries, although their nature may differ (e.g., social change may have more of an influence in the former). Likewise, access to means heightens risk in both, but the specific means may vary (e.g., access to pesticides is of more relevance in developing countries). These findings have clear implications for suicide prevention, suggesting that preventive efforts that have shown promise in developed countries may need to be tailored differently to address the risk factor profile of developing countries.

Download Full-text

Risk factors for chronic venous disease

Phlebology The Journal of Venous Disease ◽

10.1258/phleb.2011.011091 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 27 (8) ◽

pp. 416-422 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

H D Vlajinac ◽

Ð J Radak ◽

J M Marinković ◽

M Ž Maksimović

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Chronic Venous Disease ◽

Venous Disease ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Blood Clots ◽

Potential Risk Factors ◽

History Of ◽

Developing And Developed Countries

Objective Chronic venous disease (CVD) is a common problem in developing and developed countries. Methods A cross-sectional study, conducted in two major towns in Serbia, comprised 3225 subjects over 18 years old, enrolled in the survey consecutively by general practitioners (GPs) within their normal framework. Diagnosis of CVD was made by GPs on the basis of symptoms and visual examination. Data on potential risk factors were collected by the use of a questionnaire. Results The prevalence of CVD was significantly higher in women (73.7%) than in men (70.1%), although severe forms of CVD were significantly more frequent in men. Risk factors for CVD were age, body mass index ≥25.00 kg/m2, family history of CVD, history of blood clots in veins and ever-smoking in both sexes, and menopause, increased number of child births and physical inactivity in women. Conclusion The results obtained suggest the possibility of CVD prevention by modification of some behavioural risk factors.

Download Full-text

Is Microcredit a Reverse Innovation?

FIIB Business Review ◽

10.1177/2319714520962924 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 231971452096292

Author(s):

Arvind Ashta ◽

Surender Mor

Keyword(s):

Social Innovation ◽

Essential Feature ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Corporate Image ◽

Reverse Innovation ◽

Microfinance Institutions ◽

Group Lending ◽

Developed Country ◽

The Poor ◽

Broad Concept

The concept of reverse innovation can be defined on a spectrum ranging from narrow to broad. We look at the broad concept, which indicates that an innovation travels successfully from a developing country to a developed country. A few authors have indicated that microcredit is a reverse innovation. However, credit by itself is not an innovation, nor is lending to the poor. The essential feature of modern-day microcredit in developing countries is that it acts as a social innovation, using group lending, being primarily directed towards women and creating financially stable institutions. We do not find evidence that any of these features have been adopted by a developed country’s microfinance institutions (MFIs) in a sustainable manner. We consider that only the use of the words ‘microfinance’ and 'microcredit' have been adopted by developed countries to further the corporate image, and researchers should be aware that ‘microfinance’ holds different connotations in different regions.

Download Full-text

Conceiving and constructing the Irish workhouse, 1836–45

Irish Historical Studies ◽

10.1017/s0021121400000602 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 (149) ◽

pp. 22-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Peter Gray

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Northern Ireland ◽

Early History ◽

Irish Society ◽

Poor Law ◽

Law System ◽

The Poor ◽

Great Famine ◽

History Of ◽

Industrial Schools

The Irish workhouse has had a troubled history, attracting mostly negative commentary from the inception of the national poor law system after 1838 to the final abolition of the poor law in Northern Ireland in 1948. The popular historian of the institution opens his account with the bald statement that ‘the workhouse was the most feared and hated institution ever established in Ireland’. While one might quibble with this (the penitentiaries and asylums of the nineteenth century were surely as much feared, and perhaps with more reason; the record of the industrial schools and Magdalene asylums has more recently attracted the appalled attention of Irish society), the statement contains a kernel of truth. Designed with the deterrent principle of ‘less eligibility’ to the forefront, and irrevocably associated with the horrors of mass mortality during the Great Famine, the workhouses became in Irish popular memory (and in the bulk of historical commentary) associated with the suffering and degradation of their inmates. Nevertheless, the early history of the poor law and its associated workhouses is more complex than this suggests and deserves closer attention.

Download Full-text

Some early history of replica techniques for electron microscopy

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100130018 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 1076-1077

Author(s):

Robert M. Fisher

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Electron Microscopy ◽

Optical Microscope ◽

Early History ◽

Bulk Materials ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Reflected Light ◽

History Of ◽

Electron Microscopes

By 1940, a half dozen or so commercial or home-built transmission electron microscopes were in use for studies of the ultrastructure of matter. These operated at 30-60 kV and most pioneering microscopists were preoccupied with their search for electron transparent substrates to support dispersions of particulates or bacteria for TEM examination and did not contemplate studies of bulk materials. Metallurgist H. Mahl and other physical scientists, accustomed to examining etched, deformed or machined specimens by reflected light in the optical microscope, were also highly motivated to capitalize on the superior resolution of the electron microscope. Mahl originated several methods of preparing thin oxide or lacquer impressions of surfaces that were transparent in his 50 kV TEM. The utility of replication was recognized immediately and many variations on the theme, including two-step negative-positive replicas, soon appeared. Intense development of replica techniques slowed after 1955 but important advances still occur. The availability of 100 kV instruments, advent of thin film methods for metals and ceramics and microtoming of thin sections for biological specimens largely eliminated any need to resort to replicas.

Download Full-text