Lexington Books
Pages: 178
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-4985-1752-2 • Hardback • December 2015 • $114.00 • (£88.00)
978-1-4985-1754-6 • Paperback • September 2017 • $53.99 • (£42.00)
978-1-4985-1753-9 • eBook • December 2015 • $51.00 • (£39.00)
Brian Warby is assistant professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa.
Chapter 1—Introduction
Chapter 2—What We Know So Far
Chapter 3—A Model of Poverty Reduction
Chapter 4—Looking at the Data
Chapter 5—Microfinance in Brazil: A Case Study
Chapter 6—Is Funding Going Where it can do the Most Good?
Chapter 7—The Future of Microfinance
Dr. Warby’s work provides an intriguing new way to think about microfinance. Historically, many scholars have identified microfinance as a substitute for the government in providing services to the poor. For instance, they point out that informal “group lending” overcomes the problem of weak contract enforcement found in many developing countries. However, as Dr. Warby correctly points out, this view ignores the numerous other functions that the government must provide for any private sector activity to develop. Dr. Warby’s study thus represents a new generation of research that moves beyond the question of whether microfinance is more effective than the public sector in addressing poverty to look instead at how the two can work together to provide meaningful solutions to this difficult problem.
— Joshua Ault, University of Victoria