{"title":"Microfinance, Poverty and Education","authors":"Asma Boussetta","doi":"10.1057/s41294-021-00145-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper studies the relationship between microfinance, education and poverty at the macrolevel using a cross-country panel dataset of 116 countries over the period of 1999–2018. Disaggregating the effects by income levels and taking account of the potential problem of endogeneity related to microfinance institutions’ loans, this analysis reveals that any increase in the size of the gross loan portfolio of MFIs leads to a reduction in poverty in high- and middle-income economies. Moreover, I show that there is no significant relationship between microfinance and poverty in countries with lower levels of income. I also examine the channels through which microfinance affects poverty and find that any increase in the size of the microfinance sector fosters education which, in turn, reduces poverty.</p>","PeriodicalId":46161,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Studies","volume":"9 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2021-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Comparative Economic Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41294-021-00145-4","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper studies the relationship between microfinance, education and poverty at the macrolevel using a cross-country panel dataset of 116 countries over the period of 1999–2018. Disaggregating the effects by income levels and taking account of the potential problem of endogeneity related to microfinance institutions’ loans, this analysis reveals that any increase in the size of the gross loan portfolio of MFIs leads to a reduction in poverty in high- and middle-income economies. Moreover, I show that there is no significant relationship between microfinance and poverty in countries with lower levels of income. I also examine the channels through which microfinance affects poverty and find that any increase in the size of the microfinance sector fosters education which, in turn, reduces poverty.
期刊介绍：
Comparative Economic Studies is a journal of the Association for Comparative Economic Studies (ACES). It aims to publish papers that address several objectives: that provide original political economy analysis from a comparative perspective, that are an accessible source for state-of-the-art comparative economics thinking, that encourage cross-fertilization of ideas, that debate directions for future research in comparative economics, and that can provide materials and insights that are relevant for teaching, public policy debate and the media. Comparative Economic Studies welcome both submissions that are explicitly comparative and case studies of single countries or regions. The journal is interested in papers that investigate how economic systems respond to economic transitions, crises and to structural change, brought about by globalization, demographics, institutions, technology, politics, and the environment. While maintaining its position as an important outlet for work on Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union, the scope of Comparative Economic Studies encompasses other areas as well (European Union, Asia, Latin America, and Africa).
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
