Assessing the long-term impact of microcredit on rural poverty
Resource information
Date of publication
Diciembre 2011
ISBN / Resource ID
127132
Pages
23 pages
Copyright details
IFPRI adheres to the basic tenets of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, articulated in 2002 (subject to any applicable third-party rights and or confidentiality obigations). All applicable data are subject to IFPRI’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines. Copyright © 2013 International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). All rights reserved.
In recent years, microfinance institutions are seen as beacons of hope to help eradicate poverty through, among others, providing credit to poor rural households. Availability of small but repeated loans is, in the long-term, expected to impact on poverty. However, decades after the introduction of microfinance institutions into many rural areas, there are still questions as to what extent such long-term benefits are realized. This is because evaluating the long-term impact of microfinance provision on household welfare is difficult due to difficulties in controlling for heterogeneities in the borrower pool and subsequent borrowing dynamics.