Thesis (M.A.)--Villanova University, 2009. / Political Science Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

M.A. / In South Africa, high unemployment rates, uneven distribution of opportunities and poverty are major concerns for the government. Poverty is defined as the deprivation of people due to the lack of access, and their right, to certain commodities. In 2004, close to 15,4 million people were living below the poverty line. In addition to this, in 2005, 53 percent of South Africans, equating to 16,4 million persons, were excluded from formal financial services. Microcredit has been advocated as a tool to reduce poverty. A world renowned microfinance model, the Grameen Bank model of Bangladesh has had success in not only reducing poverty, but also allowing poor people access to formal financial services. The bank has 7,93 million borrowers, with 97 percent being female clients, and one third of its borrowers have crossed the poverty line. Four organisations in South Africa have replicated this model. These organisations are the Small Enterprise Foundation, Marang Financial Services, The Women's Development Businesses, and the South African National Zakah Fund. These organisations have achieved in reaching 130,000 clients across South Africa, and extended over R1 billion in loans. However, only four of the nine provinces in the country have been infiltrated effectively. The impacts on these borrowers lives, and their households has been exceptional. Many of the families now have increased selfworth, a stable income, job security and access to credit in order to advance their businesses. In addition, Grameencredit has allowed thousands of South Africans access to legal, formal financial services. Thus, Grameencredit has been advocated to be an effective method in the fight against poverty.

The Grameen Bank has improved the lives of several million poor people in rural Bangladesh by providing them with credit. Using an innovative group lending program, the bank has been able to recover 97% of its loans. This dissertation is an attempt to understand the intricacies of the Grameen Bank's credit program and to throw light on those features of its innovative institutional set-up that make it so successful in recovering its loans. The dissertation is divided into six chapters and organized as follows. I first describe the institutional set-up of the Grameen Bank and its group lending program. I draw on material obtained from interviews with bank staff and borrowers during a field-trip to the Konokdia branch of the bank in Patuakhali. This is followed by an economic analysis of the bank's lending program. I analyze the multifaceted role of group lending in achieving the dramatically low default rates on loans. The emphasis is on isolating the specific ways in which the incentives created by the requirement to form groups affects group composition and the incentives for peer support, peer supervision, and loan repayment. Using a formal model, I analyze the effect of one specific feature of the Grameen Bank -- "staggered disbursement" -- on the expected loan recovery rate. In a two borrower model I show that when loan disbursement is staggered, the probability of loan recovery is higher when borrowers are linked together in a group than when there is no such group interlinkage. I analyze the implications of loan staggering on borrower welfare. The dissertation also includes an empirical analysis of the determinants of loan repayment in the Grameen Bank. Using panel data collected from a sample of Grameen Bank branches by the World Bank, I perform OLS, “fixed effects” and “random effects” regressions to examine the relationship between the variation in repayment rates across Grameen Bank branches and such variables as the average loan size, the proportion of loans to women and the distance of the branch from district headquarters. The results throw light on some of the theoretical issues raised in the earlier chapters. Chapter 6 concludes the dissertation. / Ph. D.

Vi undersöker i denna studie en organisation, Grameen Bank, och vill på så vis upplysa om ett problem i världen. Det finns många hjälporganisationer som hjälper fattiga och utsatta länder men för att en bättre infrastruktur ska kunna etableras i u-länder krävs även nya metoder så att nya entreprenörer kan etablera sig på marknaden. Muhammad Yunus är en entreprenör, han skapade Grameen Bank i Bangladesh för att hjälpa den fattiga befolkningen att utvecklas och förbättra levnadsstandarden genom att låta dem ta mikrolån. Studiens syfte:  Undersöka hur Grameen Bankens organisation fungerar  Ta reda på Grameen Bankens syfte, mål och vision  Undersöka faktorer som påverkar Grameen Bankens effektivitet och utveckling / The purpose of this study is to analyze an organisation, Grameen Bank, and illustrate a relevant problem in the world. There are plenty of aid organizations that help countries, but to enable the build-up of an infrastructure, new methods are required that help the establishment of new entrepreneurs. Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to help the poor population to develop and enhance their living standards by lending them micro loans. The purpose of this study:  Investigate how the organisation of Grameen Bank works  Acquire the purpose, goal and vision of Grameen Bank  Investigate the factors that influence the efficiency and development of Grameen Bank

The global economy celebrates microcredit as poverty alleviation for the individual and as a way to boost a country’s economic growth. This study examines if results from previous research on Grameen Bank’s microcredits are supported by statistics. By using Exploratory Sequential Mixed Method, five themes was conducted from the qualitative findings and then analyzed from capability approach theory and Schumpeterian growth theory. Results indicates that poverty have declined in Bangladesh, but it also shows that income share for the poorest has not increased nor the female employment rate.  Both the consumption and the GDP for Bangladesh have increased, but the conclusion of this study suggest that microcredits are convoluted and needs further studies that are comprehensive with both qualitative and statistical research that are more detailed and profound. Since the available statistics are inadequate further research generally about microcredits are needed, especially if banks and organizations worldwide are going to use it as poverty alleviation.

The purpose of the study is to: (1) examine the degree to which women borrowers of the Grameen Bank are being empowered to participate in familial decision-making around the management of income and expenditures like food, children’s education, dowry and teenage marriages; and (2) to examine women borrowers’ engagement in community activities such as the degree of freedom women are granted to visit public places like schools, local councils, banks and markets. In particular, the study explores the role of the Grameen Bank (GB) in women’s empowerment through the Sixteen Decisions, an educational program designed to empower women in the family and community. This study used a mixed-methods research design that included 61 GB women borrowers selected through purposive sampling. The data suggest that the participants have assumed leadership roles within their families: more than 80% of the study’s participants led decision making within their family; more than 90% supported their children’s education financially; 91% reported that they worked together with family members to manage day-to-day expenses; 80% reported that they manage their family incomes; 98% reported they do not like dowry marriages and teenage marriages; and 33% view male-dominant values as a hindrance to women’s development. The findings indicated that 98% of GB women borrower participants are engaged in community organizations and 94% do not face problems with this engagement. In the 2009 UpZilla (Municipal Sub-district) Election, out of 481 seats, 114 Female Chairs (25% of the total) were elected from the GB women borrowers and their families (Grameen Bank, 2009). In addition, the number of women borrowers serving as councilors has increased from 1,572 in 1997 to 1,950 in 2003; these data indicate that the number of women borrowers acting in formal leadership roles is increasing (Grameen Bank, 2009). The study finds the GB program has had a positive impact upon the borrowers’ relations in the family and community. In spite of these developments, one-fifth of GB women borrowers’ husbands control their wives’ loan money, an indication of the strength of patriarchy in Bangladesh. Although GB’s Sixteen Decisions have included economic issues and other social issues, none directly discusses gender inequality, which the study findings suggest is important. Hence a revision of the Sixteen Decisions is suggested.

The purpose of the study is to: (1) examine the degree to which women borrowers of the Grameen Bank are being empowered to participate in familial decision-making around the management of income and expenditures like food, children’s education, dowry and teenage marriages; and (2) to examine women borrowers’ engagement in community activities such as the degree of freedom women are granted to visit public places like schools, local councils, banks and markets. In particular, the study explores the role of the Grameen Bank (GB) in women’s empowerment through the Sixteen Decisions, an educational program designed to empower women in the family and community. This study used a mixed-methods research design that included 61 GB women borrowers selected through purposive sampling. The data suggest that the participants have assumed leadership roles within their families: more than 80% of the study’s participants led decision making within their family; more than 90% supported their children’s education financially; 91% reported that they worked together with family members to manage day-to-day expenses; 80% reported that they manage their family incomes; 98% reported they do not like dowry marriages and teenage marriages; and 33% view male-dominant values as a hindrance to women’s development. The findings indicated that 98% of GB women borrower participants are engaged in community organizations and 94% do not face problems with this engagement. In the 2009 UpZilla (Municipal Sub-district) Election, out of 481 seats, 114 Female Chairs (25% of the total) were elected from the GB women borrowers and their families (Grameen Bank, 2009). In addition, the number of women borrowers serving as councilors has increased from 1,572 in 1997 to 1,950 in 2003; these data indicate that the number of women borrowers acting in formal leadership roles is increasing (Grameen Bank, 2009). The study finds the GB program has had a positive impact upon the borrowers’ relations in the family and community. In spite of these developments, one-fifth of GB women borrowers’ husbands control their wives’ loan money, an indication of the strength of patriarchy in Bangladesh. Although GB’s Sixteen Decisions have included economic issues and other social issues, none directly discusses gender inequality, which the study findings suggest is important. Hence a revision of the Sixteen Decisions is suggested.

Le microcrédit est aujourd'hui un terme qui revient souvent quand on entend parler de développement. Les bailleurs de fond se dirigent de plus en plus vers cette « nouvelle » forme de financement du développement qui semble prometteuse à bien des égards. Cet outil peut, selon certains, avoir des effets positifs à plusieurs niveaux: économique, social et politique. Ce mémoire tente d'explorer ces aspects en portant une attention particulière à l'empowerment des femmes au Bangladesh. Il est question d'étudier la Grameen Bank, première banque spécialisée pour les pauvres qui émet des microcrédits à des femmes (97%) pour que celles-ci l'investissent dans une activité rémunératrice et qu'elles se hissent au-dessus du seuil de la pauvreté. Cette recherche dresse un portrait socio-économique et culturel du Bangladesh; présente l'institution étudiée, la Grameen Bank; et aborde les enjeux reliés à l'empowerment des femmes et à l'élimination de la pauvreté à travers des entrevues effectuées durant le printemps 2007, dans trois régions du pays: Rajshahi, Chittagong et Netrokona. Ce mémoire s'appuie aussi sur diverses études et recherches traitant de la question. L'hypothèse de départ est que grâce à ces prêts, les femmes acquièrent un pouvoir économique qui leur permet de sortir leur famille de la pauvreté et les mène sur le chemin de l'empowerment. Les principaux résultats obtenus suite aux entretiens semblent indiquer que les femmes ont encore un chemin à parcourir avant d'atteindre ce qui pourrait ressembler à l'égalité entre les hommes et les femmes. Toutefois, des transformations ont déjà pris formes et ces dernières ont vu leur position au sein du foyer s'élever. Elles ont gagné beaucoup en respect et en confiance, sans compter que plusieurs ont vu leur liberté de mouvement grandir et souhaitent une meilleure éducation pour leurs enfants. Par conséquent, cette étude semble montrer que lorsque les prêts sont bien investis, les femmes réussissent à augmenter leur niveau de vie et les changements au niveau social apparaissent peu à peu.

Alleviation of poverty has become a major issue in the agenda of many countries and there is a search for a cure for this issue in social policy environment. For the last few decades, i.e., since the establishment of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, microcredit programmes have been used an important tool that is used to combat increasing poverty in both developing and developed world. The importance of this tool also comes from the fact that the target group of microfinance institutions is mainly women. The popularity of this poverty alleviation tool has reached to Turkey at the very beginning of 2000s. In this context, whether and/or to what extent microcredit is effective in taking women and their families out of poverty becomes a major question. Based on the assumption that poverty is a multidimensional issue, the main aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between micro credit and poverty. This relationship will be understood by looking deeply at women&rsquo / s lives through semi-structured interviews with beneficiaries of Diyarbakir office of Turkish Grameen Microcredit Programme. As a result of this study, it is found that a few women become entrepreneurs and engage in economic activities. Rather, they generally apply for microcredit for consumption concerns, for payments of other debts and to expand their current business. Therefore, microcredit remains insufficient to end people&rsquo / s poverty since it do not provide a transformative and structural power to the poor.

Bachelor's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.