Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
988924 | World Development | 2012 | 15 Pages |
Abstract
SummaryWe test the hypothesis that microfinance reduces poverty at the macro level using cross-country and panel data which are constructed by the Microfinance Information Exchange data on Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and the World Bank data. Taking account of the endogeneity associated with MFIs’ loans, we show that a country with higher MFIs’ gross loan portfolio per capita tends to have lower levels of poverty indices. Contrary to recent micro evidence, our results suggest that microfinance significantly reduces poverty at macro level and thus reinforce the case for channeling funds from development finance institutions and governments of developing countries into MFIs.
Keywords
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities
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Economics and Econometrics
Authors
Katsushi S. Imai, Raghav Gaiha, Ganesh Thapa, Samuel Kobina Annim,