The role of training in reducing poverty: the case of the ultra‐poor in Bangladesh

Abstract

Although microcredit is considered the main vehicle for increasing the income of the poor and alleviating poverty in Bangladesh, it is now well recognised that more than this is needed to reach the ultra poor in rural areas. Consequently, almost half of the Bangladesh population is in some way linked to non‐governmental organizations' development programmes, at the centre of which is poverty alleviation. The study reported here developed a comprehensive cross‐sectional intervention to examine whether the income of those who participated in the training programmes of non‐governmental organizations was related to that participation. The study was carried out in three leading organizations in three districts of Bangladesh using a quantitative associational research design. Three hundred responses were analysed using multiple regression analysis to elicit information from ultra poor clients who had received training. The results suggest that the post‐training income level of the trainees was negatively rather than positively related to the fact of their participation in training, the opposite of what human capital theory would lead us to expect.

Money management and entrepreneurial training in microfinance: impact on beneficiaries and institutions

“…It has also been observed that sustained success in microfinance can depend on participants' literacy, numeracy skills, and microenterprise training (Coppock et al 2011) and that better-educated entrepreneurs have a greater ability to understand and analyze complex information, resulting in more effective business decisions (Baklouti 2013;Bhatt and Tang 2002). Some studies have found little or no evidence of changes in key borrowers' outcomes, such as business revenues, profits, employment or household expenditure (Bruhn and Zia 2013;Khan and Ali 2014;Mahmud et al 2014;Sayinzoga et al 2016), especially when considering female clients (Berge et al 2015;Giné and Mansuri 2014). However, the positive impact on business knowledge improvements and increased client retention rates for the MFIs providing formal training in business skills is widely assessed (Karlan and Valdivia 2011).…”

Contributions of MNEs to poverty alleviation through CSR programs: Bangladesh perspective

“…But, if we see through the lens of human capital theory, the CSR expenditure for educating the poor can be regarded as the CSR for poverty alleviation also. According to human capital theory of Becker (Becker, 1964;Khan & Ali, 2014, health care and education programs contributes to the poverty alleviation in the long run because; it is the hypothesis of human capital theory that economic progress and development in a country is only possible if there is investments in training and education (Cohen & Soto, 2007;Khan & Ali, 2014. Therefore, different CSR programs of MNEs such as education, healthcare are also contributing to poverty alleviation.…”

Does investment in human resource development affect financial performance? Empirical evidence from the banking sector of Bangladesh

“…Earlier works of literature recognized a good number of indicators of investment in HRD. For example, salaries enhancement (Becker & Huselid, 1992;Bradley, Petrescu, & Simmons, 2004;Huselid, 1995), bonuses and incentives (Al-Ghazawi, 2012; Bartell, 2004;Huselid, 1995;Jones & Wright;Lee & Lee, 2007), daily income and expenditures (Khan & Ali, 2014), capacity against natural calamities (Khan & Ali, 2015) and rewards (Bradley, Petrescu, & Simmons, 2004) were identified as the major dimensions in HRD investment.…”