published_or_final_version / Economics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Women's access to micro credit has increased substantially worldwide. International organizations, non-governmental organizations, commercially-oriented institutions and governments support the proliferation of micro credit programs through diverse funding arrangements, and specifically target women to participate in such initiatives. This dissertation explores women's experiences in a micro credit program in Cairo, Egypt, funded by Save the Children (USA) in order to contribute to the growing debate on women's poverty reduction and empowerment potential. Because women's voices are critical the issues are raised through questions regarding women's situation in micro credit and what factors assist women in meeting their choices and concerns, and empowerment outcomes. / A qualitative research study of women's micro credit groups based in Cairo's Abdeen and Imbeba neighbourhoods was used in order to address women's experiences. In the literature reviewed on micro credit and micro finance, international development paradigms for women, and the socio-economic context in Cairo served to identify important influences. Women's sources of power based in the household were used to develop a conceptual framework. Women's triple roles in production, reproduction and community managing, women's practical and strategic gender needs, and theories of women's empowerment formed the principal elements. / Findings were based on interviews and observation with 69 project participants, including 54 women borrowers, of which 11 interviewed women agreed to a second interview, and 4 key staff members of the Group Guaranteed Lending and Savings program. Numerous assumptions regarding the role of micro credit in the lives of low-income women are reported and analyzed. An exploration of women's experiences reveals that, social issues in micro credit are as important, perhaps even more so, than the economic concerns of the projects. Only through building a more complete picture of women's lives can micro credit programs achieve their objective: to contribute to greater gender equity in society. / Keywords. micro credit; women; informal economy; poverty; empowerment; international social work; Middle East

Thesis (doctoral)--Universiẗat Bayreuth, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 378-411).

Nesta tese investigaremos se os bancos, em geral, e se os empréstimos bancários, em particular, desempenham alguma função especial na economia brasileira, especificamente, no que se refere em explicar a performance da atividade produtiva. Procuramos averiguar as evidências teóricas e empíricas que visam desvendar a relevância do canal do crédito, em especial, do canal do empréstimo bancário, enquanto um canal adicional para a transmissão da política monetária. Isso é feito levando em conta o ambiente institucional em que a economia brasileira está inserida, cujo caráter específico, supõem-se de grande relevância para o melhor entendimento das reais condições apresentadas pelo mercado financeiro e, em especial, pelo mercado de crédito. A hipótese central considerada é que, além do impacto promovido pelo tradicional canal da taxa de juros (custo do capital) - através do efeito que exerce sobre as obrigações (depósitos) dos intermediários financeiros e sobre as decisões de investimento dos agentes - a política monetária afeta a atividade econômica através do mercado de crédito, em especial, através do canal do empréstimo bancário, devido ao efeito que exerce sobre a composição dos ativos das instituições financeiras, em particular, sobre as decisões dos bancos em relação ao volume e as condições em que os empréstimos serão ofertados. Considera-se ainda que, o sistema legal do país constitui a base para a formação de sua estrutura financeira e, por conseguinte, contribui para explicar o grau de desenvolvimento do mercado de crédito, bem como, a intensidade com que o canal do crédito responde aos choques de política monetária. Utilizando-se, como instrumento para a análise empírica, da metodologia de vetor auto-regressivo (VAR) constata-se que, os resultados observados estão em sintonia com a teoria do “canal do crédito”, a qual sugere que fricções informacionais no mercado são agravadas em períodos de restrição monetária, resultando em queda na oferta de crédito e aumento no prêmio de financiamento externo (spreads), o que contribui para potencializar a ação da política monetária sobre o produto e sobre os preços. Além disso, corroboram com os argumentos levantados pela literatura de “law and finance”, segundo a qual, aspectos institucionais, relacionados a baixa proteção do direito dos investidores, (associados às deficiências nas regras legais e à ineficiência na execução dessas regras), contribuem para intensificar as fricções informacionais no mercado de crédito e de capitais. / In this research we investigated if the banks, in particular, if the bank loans, carry out some special function in the Brazilian economy, specifically, to explain the performance of the productive activity. We tried to discover the theoretical and empirical evidences that seek to expose the relevance of the credit channel, especially, of the bank loan channel, while an additional channel for the transmission of monetary policy. Taking into account the institutional atmosphere in that the Brazilian economy is inserted, whose specific character is supposed relevant for understanding of the real conditions of the financial market and, especially, of the credit market. The central hypothesis is that, besides the impact caused by the traditional channel of the interest rate (cost of capital) - through the effect that it is done over the obligations (deposits) of the financial intermediaries and over the decisions of the agents' investment - the monetary politics affects the economical activity through the credit market, especially, through the channel of the bank loan, due to the effect that it exercises on the composition of the assets of the financial institutions, in particular, about the decisions of the banks in relation to the volume and the conditions the loans will be offered. The legal system of the country constitutes the basis for the formation of its financial structure and, consequently, it contributes to explain the degree of development of the credit market as well as the intensity with which the channel of credit responds to shocks on monetary policy. As instrument for the empirical investigation, the VAR analysis demonstrated that results are in syntony with the theory of the "credit channel". This theory suggests that informational frictions in the market are worsened in periods of monetary restriction, resulting in fall in the credit supply and increase in the premium of external financing (spreads). This contributes to accelerate the action of the monetary policy on output and prices. In addition, they corroborate the arguments from the literature of "law and finance", which suggests that institutional aspects, related to the low protection of the investors' rights (associated to the deficiencies in the legal rules and to the inefficiency in the execution of those rules), contribute to intensify the informational frictions in the credit and capital market.

A assimetria informacional é característica inerente ao mercado financeiro, transparecendo através de problemas de seleção adversa e risco moral. Não é diferente no tocante às operações de crédito bancário. Cientes disso, as instituições bancárias lançam mão de mecanismos de filtragem e monitoramento, bem como da exigência de garantias, para a redução da assimetria informativa. O contrato ocupa papel central nesse processo. Porque é do instrumento contratual a função de mitigar os efeitos deletérios da assimetria informacional, o presente trabalho objetiva avaliar se as cláusulas em contratos usuais de concessão de crédito pelo Banco Regional de Desenvolvimento do Extremo Sul (BRDE) são de fato desenhadas visando ao incentivo de publicidade de informações e prevenção de ações ocultas. / Informational asymmetry is an inherent characteristic of the financial market that presents itself as problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. It is not different in regard to bank loan operations. Aware of this situation, the banking institutions utilise screening and monitoring mechanisms, as well as collateral exigencies, in order to reduce the informational asymmetry. The contract plays a central role within this process. Because the contractual instrument has the purpose of mitigating the deleterious effects of the informational asymmetry, the present work intends to evaluate if the clauses employed in usual credit concession contracts by the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE) are indeed designed aiming at incentives to information disclosure and prevention of hidden actions.

Credit risk mitigation that can be applied by commercial banks in assessing the lending decision /credit risk when advances and equity investments are considered for BEE classified companies. / A research report presented to the Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa / The previous political dispensation limited black people’s participation in the South African economy. Poor credit records, lack of training, resulting in skills and capacity gaps further limited entry into the lending market. These aspects are considered the main limitations in obtaining finance for the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). This research report focuses on how credit risk can be mitigated by commercial banks in lending to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) companies in the medium to large market. Exploratory research was conducted using various methods to achieve methodological triangulation. These methods consisted of a literature review, interviewing experts in the field and case studies. A qualitative research approach was followed. It was found that the lack of own contribution and security were still prevalent in the medium to large market, but the quality of management (little training and skills) was deemed not to be a limitation as suitable credit risk mitigants were identified. No credit risk mitigants were identified to mitigate poor credit records. It is postulated that by adopting and applying the identified credit risk mitigants, commercial banks can increase their success rate in lending to BEE companies. It will further assist in the transformation of black people and compliance with the Financial Services Charter. It is recommended that a similar study be conducted in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing industry. The reasons why BEE companies applications are declined could also be investigated. Further studies could also explore other external factors such as economical, legal and social that could have an influence on the funding of BEE companies.

Nesta tese investigaremos se os bancos, em geral, e se os empréstimos bancários, em particular, desempenham alguma função especial na economia brasileira, especificamente, no que se refere em explicar a performance da atividade produtiva. Procuramos averiguar as evidências teóricas e empíricas que visam desvendar a relevância do canal do crédito, em especial, do canal do empréstimo bancário, enquanto um canal adicional para a transmissão da política monetária. Isso é feito levando em conta o ambiente institucional em que a economia brasileira está inserida, cujo caráter específico, supõem-se de grande relevância para o melhor entendimento das reais condições apresentadas pelo mercado financeiro e, em especial, pelo mercado de crédito. A hipótese central considerada é que, além do impacto promovido pelo tradicional canal da taxa de juros (custo do capital) - através do efeito que exerce sobre as obrigações (depósitos) dos intermediários financeiros e sobre as decisões de investimento dos agentes - a política monetária afeta a atividade econômica através do mercado de crédito, em especial, através do canal do empréstimo bancário, devido ao efeito que exerce sobre a composição dos ativos das instituições financeiras, em particular, sobre as decisões dos bancos em relação ao volume e as condições em que os empréstimos serão ofertados. Considera-se ainda que, o sistema legal do país constitui a base para a formação de sua estrutura financeira e, por conseguinte, contribui para explicar o grau de desenvolvimento do mercado de crédito, bem como, a intensidade com que o canal do crédito responde aos choques de política monetária. Utilizando-se, como instrumento para a análise empírica, da metodologia de vetor auto-regressivo (VAR) constata-se que, os resultados observados estão em sintonia com a teoria do “canal do crédito”, a qual sugere que fricções informacionais no mercado são agravadas em períodos de restrição monetária, resultando em queda na oferta de crédito e aumento no prêmio de financiamento externo (spreads), o que contribui para potencializar a ação da política monetária sobre o produto e sobre os preços. Além disso, corroboram com os argumentos levantados pela literatura de “law and finance”, segundo a qual, aspectos institucionais, relacionados a baixa proteção do direito dos investidores, (associados às deficiências nas regras legais e à ineficiência na execução dessas regras), contribuem para intensificar as fricções informacionais no mercado de crédito e de capitais. / In this research we investigated if the banks, in particular, if the bank loans, carry out some special function in the Brazilian economy, specifically, to explain the performance of the productive activity. We tried to discover the theoretical and empirical evidences that seek to expose the relevance of the credit channel, especially, of the bank loan channel, while an additional channel for the transmission of monetary policy. Taking into account the institutional atmosphere in that the Brazilian economy is inserted, whose specific character is supposed relevant for understanding of the real conditions of the financial market and, especially, of the credit market. The central hypothesis is that, besides the impact caused by the traditional channel of the interest rate (cost of capital) - through the effect that it is done over the obligations (deposits) of the financial intermediaries and over the decisions of the agents' investment - the monetary politics affects the economical activity through the credit market, especially, through the channel of the bank loan, due to the effect that it exercises on the composition of the assets of the financial institutions, in particular, about the decisions of the banks in relation to the volume and the conditions the loans will be offered. The legal system of the country constitutes the basis for the formation of its financial structure and, consequently, it contributes to explain the degree of development of the credit market as well as the intensity with which the channel of credit responds to shocks on monetary policy. As instrument for the empirical investigation, the VAR analysis demonstrated that results are in syntony with the theory of the "credit channel". This theory suggests that informational frictions in the market are worsened in periods of monetary restriction, resulting in fall in the credit supply and increase in the premium of external financing (spreads). This contributes to accelerate the action of the monetary policy on output and prices. In addition, they corroborate the arguments from the literature of "law and finance", which suggests that institutional aspects, related to the low protection of the investors' rights (associated to the deficiencies in the legal rules and to the inefficiency in the execution of those rules), contribute to intensify the informational frictions in the credit and capital market.

A assimetria informacional é característica inerente ao mercado financeiro, transparecendo através de problemas de seleção adversa e risco moral. Não é diferente no tocante às operações de crédito bancário. Cientes disso, as instituições bancárias lançam mão de mecanismos de filtragem e monitoramento, bem como da exigência de garantias, para a redução da assimetria informativa. O contrato ocupa papel central nesse processo. Porque é do instrumento contratual a função de mitigar os efeitos deletérios da assimetria informacional, o presente trabalho objetiva avaliar se as cláusulas em contratos usuais de concessão de crédito pelo Banco Regional de Desenvolvimento do Extremo Sul (BRDE) são de fato desenhadas visando ao incentivo de publicidade de informações e prevenção de ações ocultas. / Informational asymmetry is an inherent characteristic of the financial market that presents itself as problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. It is not different in regard to bank loan operations. Aware of this situation, the banking institutions utilise screening and monitoring mechanisms, as well as collateral exigencies, in order to reduce the informational asymmetry. The contract plays a central role within this process. Because the contractual instrument has the purpose of mitigating the deleterious effects of the informational asymmetry, the present work intends to evaluate if the clauses employed in usual credit concession contracts by the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE) are indeed designed aiming at incentives to information disclosure and prevention of hidden actions.

Nesta tese investigaremos se os bancos, em geral, e se os empréstimos bancários, em particular, desempenham alguma função especial na economia brasileira, especificamente, no que se refere em explicar a performance da atividade produtiva. Procuramos averiguar as evidências teóricas e empíricas que visam desvendar a relevância do canal do crédito, em especial, do canal do empréstimo bancário, enquanto um canal adicional para a transmissão da política monetária. Isso é feito levando em conta o ambiente institucional em que a economia brasileira está inserida, cujo caráter específico, supõem-se de grande relevância para o melhor entendimento das reais condições apresentadas pelo mercado financeiro e, em especial, pelo mercado de crédito. A hipótese central considerada é que, além do impacto promovido pelo tradicional canal da taxa de juros (custo do capital) - através do efeito que exerce sobre as obrigações (depósitos) dos intermediários financeiros e sobre as decisões de investimento dos agentes - a política monetária afeta a atividade econômica através do mercado de crédito, em especial, através do canal do empréstimo bancário, devido ao efeito que exerce sobre a composição dos ativos das instituições financeiras, em particular, sobre as decisões dos bancos em relação ao volume e as condições em que os empréstimos serão ofertados. Considera-se ainda que, o sistema legal do país constitui a base para a formação de sua estrutura financeira e, por conseguinte, contribui para explicar o grau de desenvolvimento do mercado de crédito, bem como, a intensidade com que o canal do crédito responde aos choques de política monetária. Utilizando-se, como instrumento para a análise empírica, da metodologia de vetor auto-regressivo (VAR) constata-se que, os resultados observados estão em sintonia com a teoria do “canal do crédito”, a qual sugere que fricções informacionais no mercado são agravadas em períodos de restrição monetária, resultando em queda na oferta de crédito e aumento no prêmio de financiamento externo (spreads), o que contribui para potencializar a ação da política monetária sobre o produto e sobre os preços. Além disso, corroboram com os argumentos levantados pela literatura de “law and finance”, segundo a qual, aspectos institucionais, relacionados a baixa proteção do direito dos investidores, (associados às deficiências nas regras legais e à ineficiência na execução dessas regras), contribuem para intensificar as fricções informacionais no mercado de crédito e de capitais. / In this research we investigated if the banks, in particular, if the bank loans, carry out some special function in the Brazilian economy, specifically, to explain the performance of the productive activity. We tried to discover the theoretical and empirical evidences that seek to expose the relevance of the credit channel, especially, of the bank loan channel, while an additional channel for the transmission of monetary policy. Taking into account the institutional atmosphere in that the Brazilian economy is inserted, whose specific character is supposed relevant for understanding of the real conditions of the financial market and, especially, of the credit market. The central hypothesis is that, besides the impact caused by the traditional channel of the interest rate (cost of capital) - through the effect that it is done over the obligations (deposits) of the financial intermediaries and over the decisions of the agents' investment - the monetary politics affects the economical activity through the credit market, especially, through the channel of the bank loan, due to the effect that it exercises on the composition of the assets of the financial institutions, in particular, about the decisions of the banks in relation to the volume and the conditions the loans will be offered. The legal system of the country constitutes the basis for the formation of its financial structure and, consequently, it contributes to explain the degree of development of the credit market as well as the intensity with which the channel of credit responds to shocks on monetary policy. As instrument for the empirical investigation, the VAR analysis demonstrated that results are in syntony with the theory of the "credit channel". This theory suggests that informational frictions in the market are worsened in periods of monetary restriction, resulting in fall in the credit supply and increase in the premium of external financing (spreads). This contributes to accelerate the action of the monetary policy on output and prices. In addition, they corroborate the arguments from the literature of "law and finance", which suggests that institutional aspects, related to the low protection of the investors' rights (associated to the deficiencies in the legal rules and to the inefficiency in the execution of those rules), contribute to intensify the informational frictions in the credit and capital market.

A assimetria informacional é característica inerente ao mercado financeiro, transparecendo através de problemas de seleção adversa e risco moral. Não é diferente no tocante às operações de crédito bancário. Cientes disso, as instituições bancárias lançam mão de mecanismos de filtragem e monitoramento, bem como da exigência de garantias, para a redução da assimetria informativa. O contrato ocupa papel central nesse processo. Porque é do instrumento contratual a função de mitigar os efeitos deletérios da assimetria informacional, o presente trabalho objetiva avaliar se as cláusulas em contratos usuais de concessão de crédito pelo Banco Regional de Desenvolvimento do Extremo Sul (BRDE) são de fato desenhadas visando ao incentivo de publicidade de informações e prevenção de ações ocultas. / Informational asymmetry is an inherent characteristic of the financial market that presents itself as problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. It is not different in regard to bank loan operations. Aware of this situation, the banking institutions utilise screening and monitoring mechanisms, as well as collateral exigencies, in order to reduce the informational asymmetry. The contract plays a central role within this process. Because the contractual instrument has the purpose of mitigating the deleterious effects of the informational asymmetry, the present work intends to evaluate if the clauses employed in usual credit concession contracts by the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE) are indeed designed aiming at incentives to information disclosure and prevention of hidden actions.