scholarly journals Microfinance Institutions and Poverty Reduction: A Cross Regional Analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (4I-II) ◽  
pp. 371-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attiya Yasmin Javid ◽  
Afsheen Abrar

The alleviation of poverty is one of the most debated issues among the academicians and policy makers. From 1950s to 1980s the poverty reduction program has been based on increase the participation of poor into the economy by better macroeconomic performance. Though the poor part of population mostly engaged in informal sector1 is identified by researchers but has not become the part of economic models and government policy [Robinson (2001)]. Poverty reduction has been institutionalised in 1944 when World Bank was set up. The World Bank worked through governments and institutions by giving loans to developing countries called structural-adjustment programmes. These programmes were highly unsuccessful, created dependence on aid with little help to poor part of societies [Murduch (1999) and Diop, et al. (2007)].

PMLA ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Nixon

In december 1968 the journal science published “the tragedy of the commons,” a slender tract by the ecologist and geneticist garrett Hardin that became one of the twentieth century's most influential essays. Hardin's thinking resonated in particular with policy makers at the International Monetary Fund, at the World Bank, and at conservative think tanks and kindred neoliberal institutions advocating so-called trickle-down economics, structural adjustment, austerity measures, government shrinkage, and the privatization of resources. Although Hardin's paramount, Malthusian concern was with “overbreeding,” his general critique of the commons has had a far more lasting impact. He memorably encapsulated that critique in a parable that represented the commons as unprofitable and unsustainable, inimical to both the collective and the individual good.1 According to this brief parable, a herdsman faced with the temptations of a common pasture will instinctively overload it with his livestock. As each greed-driven individual strives to maximize the resource for personal gain, the commons collapses to the detriment of all. Together, Hardin's pithy essay title and succinct parable have helped vindicate a neoliberal rescue narrative, whereby privatization through enclosure, dispossession, and resource capture is deemed necessary for averting tragedy.


2007 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-176
Author(s):  
G. M. Arif

Most developing countries have been pursuing structural adjustment programmes, driven by the World Bank and the IMF, for more than 25 years without initially recognising the importance of regulation for economic liberalisation. Without regulation, the potential advantages of liberalising markets were in danger of being diminished in terms of improved efficiency and welfare. As a consequence, new forms of regulation have been emerging that cover health, environment, industry, employment and so on. This book examines the concepts and theories that have driven these reforms and the particular contexts that have influenced and conditioned them. The research presented in the book was carried out at the Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC), University of Manchester, the United Kingdom, over the past five years. It contains fourteen chapters organised in five parts: competition, regulatory governance, regulation, capacity building and poverty.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred G Nhema ◽  
Tawanda Zinyama

This article seeks to review the early development theories that have dominated the development path in Africa over a number of decades. First, the paper reviews the modernisation theory which dominated the literature on development theory in the 1950s/60s as the former colonies attained their independence. Second, the paper examines the dependency theory which was a critical response to the modernisation paradigm. Third, the paper assesses the nature and form of neo liberal prescriptions that came to be known as Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) offered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) from the 1980s to the 1990s. Finally, the paper explores the relevance and impact of the identified development theories to the development of Africa.


1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie Campbell ◽  
Jennifer Clapp

Domestic policy inadequacies have been targeted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the main reason for poor economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa generally.1 The structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) sponsored by these international financial institutions (IFIs) over the past decade have sought to rectify such policies. But many countries following their advice have continued to experience economic decline, albeit according to the World Bank, as a result primarily of their failure to properly implement the recommended reforms. It was argued in the late 1980s and early 1990S that governments pursuing strong adjustment programmes, even in the face of inhospitable world economic conditions, still outperformed weak reformers.2 This analysis does not hold with the same weight for all African countries. In the case of Guinea, external factors have been equally important in explaining its economic record under adjustment.


2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (4II) ◽  
pp. 669-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadija Ali

The aim of this paper is to review the existing empirical research concerning women’s exploitation as a result of policy measures imposed by the World Bank and the IMF, particularly under Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs). The central argument here is that SAPs have not been successful in achieving their basic objectives of ‘adjusting’ the economies instead, these policies have created severe social problems for the human beings, particularly for the poor and middle-income groups, in the countries where they (SAPs) have been implemented [Beneria and Feldman (1992); Cornia, Jolly and Stewart (1987); Floro (1995); Messkoub (1996) Moser (1989)]. Among these groups, although all members have to mobilise their efforts to support households so as to cope with the economic crisis, women have to bear an unequal share of this burden [Agrawal (1992); Ali (2000); Beneria (1992, 1995); Cagatay (1995); Chant (1991); Elson (1991, 1992a); Feldman (1992); Floro (1995); Reilly and Gorden (1995); McFarren (1992); Moser (1992); Perez-Aleman (1992); Sahn and Haddad (1991); Safa and Antrobus (1992); Stewart (1992); Trip (1992)].


1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Barry Riddell

International economics and global politics are unfamiliar territory for many. However, the operations of institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.) have profound impacts upon the countries with which they treat, and these extend beyond financial issues and geo-politics. This article indicates how the I.M.F. has imposed ‘conditionalities’ in sub-Saharan Africa as integral elements of Structural Adjustment Programmes (S.A.P.s) that affect not only the lives of all the inhabitants, but also the nature and landscapes of the nations concerned — their very geographical composition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124
Author(s):  
Olatunji Abdul Shobande ◽  
Kingsley Chinonso Mark

Abstract The quest for urgent solution to resolve the world liquidity problem has continued to generate enthusiastic debates among political economists, policy makers and the academia. The argument has focused on whether the World Bank Group was established to enhance the stability of international financial system or meant to enrich the developed nations. This study argues that the existing political interest of the World Bank Group in Africa may serve as lesson learned to other ambitious African Monetary Union.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Kriese ◽  
Joshua Yindenaba Abor ◽  
Elikplimi Agbloyor

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of financial consumer protection (FCP) in the access–development nexus. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on cross-country data on 102 countries surveyed in the World Bank Global Survey on FCP and Financial Literacy (2013). The White heteroscedasticity adjusted regressions and Two-stage least squares regressions (2SLS) are used for the estimation. Findings Interactions between FCP regulations that foster fair treatment, disclosure, dispute resolution and recourse and financial access have positive net effects on economic development. However, there is no sufficient evidence to suggest that interactions between financial access and enforcement and compliance monitoring regulations have a significant effect on economic development. Practical implications First, policy makers should continue with efforts aimed at instituting FCP regimes as part of strategies aimed at broadening access to financial services for enhanced economic development. Second, instituting FCP regimes per se may not be enough. Policy makers need to consider possible intervening factors such as the provision of adequate resources and supervisory authority, for compliance monitoring and enforcement to achieve the expected positive effect on economic development. Originality/value This study extends evidence in the law–finance–growth literature by providing empirical evidence on the effect of legal institution specific to the protection of retail financial consumers on the access–development nexus using a nouvel data set, the World Bank Global survey on FCP and Financial Literacy (2013).


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