Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Vol. 03 No. 2 Journal Of Microfinance, Journal Of Microfinance

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Seven Aspects Of Loan Size, Mark Schreiner

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Attempts to measure the depth of outreach in microfinance usually start--and often end--with loan size. But just what is loan size? This paper discusses seven aspects of loan size, each of which affects not only depth of outreach but also profitability. The seven aspects are: term to maturity, dollars disbursed, average balance, dollars per installment, time between installments, number of installments, and "dollar-years of borrowed resources." This paper defines the seven aspects, explains why each one matters, and gives examples of their measurement with data from three Latin American microfinance organizations.

Microfinance Impact Assessments: The Perils Of Using New Members As A Control Group, Dean S. Karlan

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Microfinance institutions aim to reduce poverty. Some assess their impact through a cross-sectional impact methodology which compares veteran to new participants and then calls any difference between these two groups the "impact" of the program. Such studies have risen recently in popularity because they are cheap, easy to implement, and often encouraged by donors. USAID, through its AIMS project, encourages this methodology with its SEEP/AIMS practitioner-oriented tools. This paper intends to inform practitioners about the perils of using such a strategy, and suggests a couple of solutions to some of the larger problems with this approach.

Announcements, Journal Of Microfinance

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Approach To The Microenterprise Sector In Latin America: An Intergrating Framework, Jaime Ortiz

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Unavoidable macroeconomic adjustment policies have exacerbated social inequalities in Latin America. As a result, electoral platforms have identified microenterprises as an alternative economic activity to help alleviate poverty. Pursuing an efficient microentrepreneurial base requires from governments a comprehensive package of both financing and training strategies. Conversely, microentrepreneurs require a better understanding of their activity in order to set forward arguments that will allow them to enhance their management practices. Government policies towards the microenterprise sector should create favorable conditions conducive to the establishment and operation of financial institutions as well as specialized nongovernmental organizations providing training and consulting. Within that …

The Decision To Breastfeed In The United States: Does Race Matter?, Renata Forste Phd, Jessica Weiss Bs, Emily Lippincott Bs

Faculty Publications

Objectives. To estimate the effects of maternal and birth characteristics on the decision to breastfeed and to relate breastfeeding practices to racial differences in infant mortality.

Methods. Using a sample of women with young children from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), Cycle V, 1995, the likelihood of breastfeeding was modeled using logistic regression techniques. In addition, single, live births from the NSFG 1988 and 1995 surveys were analyzed to model the effects of race and breastfeeding on infant mortality using Cox regression methods.

Results. After controlling for socioeconomic background and birth characteristics, race remained a strong predictor of …

Economy And 'New Economy' In The United States And Germany, Phillip J. Bryson

Faculty Publications

The expression "New Economy" is used inconsistently. This Article review the driving forces of the US boom of the 1990s, examining the changes introduced in the period and before, focusing on the IT sector and new technologies. The "New Economy" is not just the new sectors, but changes in the overall economy emanating from them. These changes will not evaporate in an economic slowdown. Comparisons of the USA with Germany and Europe illustrate that the "New Economy" will also continue to develop there on the foundations already laid.

Parenting Stress In Families With Children With Disabilities, Timothy B. Smith, Matthew N. I. Oliver, Mark S. Innocenti

Faculty Publications

Parenting stress is an important variable to consider in families with children with disabilities. This study evaluated 880 such families, using measures of child and family functioning. Results suggest that factors such as income, time available for interaction with the child, and social support predict parenting stress much better than do aspects of child functioning.

Front Matter, Journal Of Microfinance

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Client Information Sharing In Bolivia, Campion, Anita Campion

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

As the microfinance industry becomes more competitive, microfinance institutions (MFIs) increasingly seek access to credit bureaus and credit information agencies. The growing number of microfinance providers in the market results in borrowers having more access to loans, which can lead to client overindebtedness and default. By sharing client information with each other and by using credit bureau information on client history and indebtedness, MFIs facing competition can reduce their credit risk and avoid unnecessary losses. While the growing interest in credit bureaus for microfinance is global, to date, few countries have credit unions and even fewer include microfinance clients in …

Assessing The Need For Microenterprises In Mexico To Borrow Start-Up Capital, Heikki Heino, Jose A. Pagan

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Mexico's microenterprises employ about 20 percent of the working age population in the country, and the number of microenterprises has increased substantially over the last decade. Given the role these small business units play in employment and wealth creation, it is important to understand the profile of firms that resort to outside start-up capital to finance their operations. Using microdata from Mexico's National Survey of Microenterprises (Encuesta Nacional de Micronegocios, ENAMIN), we analyze the socioeconomic factors related to the need for outside start-up capital. The findings show that a relatively small number of socioeconomic factors such as the background of …

India's Regional Rural Banks: The Institutional Dimension Of Reforms, Nitin Bhatt, Y. S. P. Thorat

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Efforts to reform India's failing Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have had limited impact, because reformers have paid little attention to the institutional dimensions of the problems facing the banks. Few efforts were made to redesign the perverse institutional arrangements that gave rise to incompatible incentive structures for key stakeholders, such as political leaders, policy makers, stockholders, bank staff, and clients. We recommend that the next leg of reforms focus on aligning the incentives of these stakeholders by giving greater importance to the RRBs' internal organizational contexts and larger policy environments.

Coordination Failure In The Rural Credit Markets, Mishra, Atul Mishra

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

This paper tries to explain the curious fact that while at the national level the rural sector saves more than what it invests in itself in India, at the micro level, credit constraint is reported to be the main binding constraint on the activities in the rural economy. The explanation lies in the phenomenon of coordination failure. The public sector rural banks mobilize huge amounts of savings, but because of low rates of interest and high default rates, they do not lend in equal measure. Indeed, in India the public sector rural banks mobilize as savings three times the amount …

Vol. 03 No. 1 Journal Of Microfinance, Journal Of Microfinance

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

The Shahnameh Of Ferdowsi: An Icon To National Identity, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Richard L. Burger. Chavin And The Origins Of Andean Civilizations, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review- Microfinance: Conversations With The Experts Edited By Charles Oberdorf, Matthew Wood

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

How To Reduce Arrears In Microfinance Institutions, Norell, Dan Norell

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Reducing arrears is crucial if MFIs are to achieve selfsufficiency. MFI staff must understand the causes of arrears--whether from clients' testing the MFI's determination to collect, crises in clients' lives, loans that are too large, or loans given on the basis of favoritism. Analytical tools for assessing and preventing arrears include key measures for analyzing arrears (e.g., portfolio quality ratios and performance ratios by credit officer) and financial ratio tests for determining appropriate loan size. The key to reducing arrears is to follow up late loans quickly, form strong solidarity groups, update and enforce credit policies, focus credit officers' services …

Performance Measures For Microenterprise In The United States, Karen Doyle, Jerry Black

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Microenterprise, while currently serving a small number of America's poor, is often the only option--other than receiving welfare--for a variety of individuals to improve their standard of living or quality of life. MicroTest, a project of the Aspen Institute, was created to improve the value of microenterprise services and the stability of microenterprise organizations over time by perfecting and promoting the use of measures to regularly assess performance. This article proposes a performance measurement framework for U.S. microenterprise development programs. The following key categories of outputs and outcomes can be used to assess the performance of microenterprise development providers: Reaching …

Microfinance Myopia: Lessons From The Mainstream, Kim Wilson

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

This essay attempts to remove the shades that blind the microfinance sector to the value of its customers and what its customers truly value. It proposes that the social agenda and financial health of microfinance institutions would be far more sound if we understood who our customers are, why they leave, what they really want, and the real business we are all in.

From The Editor, Journal Of Microfinance

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Appraising Industrial Special-Purpose Properties, Robert G. Crawford, Barrett A. Slade

Faculty Publications

This article proposes a new technique, based on utilization rates, for estimating economic obsolescence in the appraisal of industrial special-purpose properties. A utilization-based measure, which explicitly considers the operating leverage of the facility, allows for proper calculation of the obsolescence. Theoretically correct valuation principles underlie the proposed utilization methodology. The technique uses inputs that are reasonably available to an appraiser, thus providing a practical application of the proposed methodology.

Ashok Kumar Malbora Transcreation Of The Bhagavad Gita., Michael Andregg

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

A Speech Interface To Genealogical Data, Deryle W. Lonsdale

Faculty Publications

This talk presents an interface that has been developed to enable users to access genealogical information via speech. Whereas the more traditional approaches for accessing data are prevalent in today’s commercial genealogical products (e.g. windows, icons, and point-and-click methods), hands-free access to information is becoming increasingly popular. There would seem to be a potential demand for speech-based access to genealogical information, particularly among enthusiasts who might require mobile access, or those who are uncomfortable with or unable to use manual methods. Yet software to perform this function for genealogical access does not appear to be widely available yet.

An Integrated System For Processing Information From Genealogical Text, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Merrill Hutchison, Tim Richards, William Taysom

Faculty Publications

This presentation introduces an integrated software system that has been designed and implemented to allow processing of difficult text. The genealogical text subdomain often exhibits characteristics that do not occur in more general written language. The system we describe has been developed specifically to address the extraction and analysis of information from such specialized text.

Language Acquisition In Children With Autism, Tina Taylor

Faculty Publications

By definition, children with autism have deficits in communication. Often, when parents notice that something is "different" about their child, it is that he does not acquire language at the same rate as his peers, that the child uses what language he has in an idiosyncratic fashion (e.g., repeating phrases from videos, using pronouns incorrectly), or that the child appears to understand only that language which might be reinforcing to him (e.g., not responding to "Look at Mommy," but responding to "Do you want a cookie?)" When these "red flags" are apparent, parents should beware of misguided advice such as …

Front Cover

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Contributors

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Contents

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Christian Petersen, Sculptor, J. R. Christianson

The Bridge

Christian Petersen (1885-1961), a native of Dybb0l in what was once Prussian Schleswig and today is Danish S0nderjylland, became the first artist-in-residence at any American college or university in 1934. The most recent book about him and his art, by Lea Rosson DeLong and others, places Petersen alongside Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry, and Thomas Hart Benton as one of the leading American Regionalists of the nineteen-thirties and 'forties. DeLong also reveals Petersen's strong Danish-American ties and some of the Danish elements that helped to shape his art.