Microfinance institutions in the development of financial markets

Abstract

For the last two decades, microfinance has ranked high on the list of policy instruments for fighting poverty. Supporting the creation of access to formal financial services for lowincome households holds out the promise of improving the living conditions of poor families and fostering economic development. Furthermore, it is claimed to be a very costeffective approach because some non-governmental organizations ( NGOs) that have been upscaled into microbanks have shown that financial services can be offered to low-income households while covering costs and even earning a moderate profit. Recent studies, however, are sceptical about the high expectations raised by the microfinance approach, since profitable microfinance institutions (MFIs) are the exception rather than the rule.Institutional innovation is called for in order to reproduce these rare successes on a larger scale. This article aims to offer preliminary insights into the potential of two rather new institutional alternatives to upscaling: the creation of microfinance departments at existing for-profit banks (i.e., downscaling) and the founding of greenfield banks.

Regiony osadnicze na terenach polski w młodszej fazie górnego i początkach schyłkowego paleolitu na tle osadnictwa środkowoeuropejskiego

“…2004;Terberger 2013). Z opisywanych terenów znane są tylko pojedyncze punkty osadnicze łączone z epigrawetienem bądź też z jednostką taksonomiczną określaną jako grubgrabien, względnie kašovien (Terberger 2003;2013;Svoboda, Novak 2004).…”