Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:14:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 61070100599.pdf: 913078 bytes, checksum: 2e1dc4c65b55c3145bbab188f3146ef0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-20T00:00:00Z / Algumas abordagens recentes chamaram a atenção para a importância das empresas mobilizarem sua capacidade produtiva para solucionar problemas das classes menos favorecidas da sociedade. Especificamente para o caso de serviços financeiros, defende-se que a atuação na baixa renda tem implicações positivas na sociedade como um todo, ao promover sua re-inclusão no sistema tradicional. Dentro desse cenário, as iniciativas de microfinanças parecem jogar luz a esse problema ao tentar levar acesso a serviços financeiros para a população de baixa renda. Porém, tais iniciativas ainda parecem não ter demonstrado o seu real potencial, e prova disso é a persistência dos crônicos indicadores de pobreza e de desigualdade social. Isso acontece porque as abordagens atuais de microfinanças apresentam limitações, dentre as quais as tecnológicas são uma das mais importantes. Por outro lado, existe um fenômeno que se manifesta especificamente no Brasil e que se refere ao grande crescimento dos chamados correspondentes bancários (CBs), em que o correspondente, que, na maior parte das vezes, é um varejo, oferta serviços em nome do banco. Alguns estudos relacionam esses dois conceitos, microfinanças e CBs, e propõem o CB como um canal tecnológico para a promoção das microfinanças. Dentro desse cenário, uma pergunta pertinente e ainda pouco explorada na literatura é: como ocorrem a adoção, implementação e uso das tecnologias de correspondentes bancários na oferta de serviços financeiros para a população de baixa renda no Brasil? De posse dessa pergunta de pesquisa, procedeu-se a um estudo de caso em profundidade e o objeto de estudo foi a forma de atuação do Banco Lemon, em especial, por possuir uma extensa rede de CBs, ser baseado exclusivamente em CBs (não tem agências físicas) e estar focado na baixa renda. A partir de uma abordagem que inclui contribuições das escolas do estruturacionismo, do construtuvismo e do contextualismo, foi possível entender como ocorreu o processo de negociação entre dois grupos relevantes, o Banco Lemon e o gestor de redes, que é um intermediário entre o banco e o varejo, na formação da tecnologia que foi adotada, implementada e usada. Os principais achados da pesquisa referem-se ao entendimento de como a tecnologia é usada para prover os serviços que o Banco Lemon quer ofertar e como dois grupos relevantes interagem, negociam e produzem a tecnologia na prática. / Recent approaches highlighted the importance of companies to redirect their productive capacity in order to meet the needs of lower-income people. When it touches financial services, some advocate participating in the lower-income segment has positive impacts on the whole society, since it brings them back to the formal market. In this context, since microfinance initiatives try to deliver financial services to the poor, they seem to throw light on this issue. On the other hand, these initiatives have not yet shown their full potential– persistent chronic poverty and inequity indicators are still at high rates. This may happen because the current microfinance initiatives have limitations, and the technological aspects are among the most important ones. At the same time, another phenomenon that takes place in Brazil is the great growth of the so-called correspondent banking (CB), where the correspondent, most of it retail shops, offer services on behalf of the bank. Some recent studies relate these two concepts–microfinance and CB–, and propose the CB as a technological channel to foster microfinance. In this regard, there is a pertinent but still scarcely developed question in the literature: how do adoption, implementation and use of the correspondent banking technology take place in the supply of financial services to the lowerincome population in Brazil? Taking this research question into account, a deep case study was conducted and its object was Banco Lemon’s way of running businesses, mainly, because it possesses a large CB network, it is based exclusively on CBs–no branches–and it is focused on the lower-income population. Using an approach that included contributions from the body of knowledge of structuralism, constructivism and contextualism, it was possible to understand how was the negotiation held between two relevant groups–Banco Lemon itself and the network integrators, which are intermediaries between Banco Lemon and the retail–in the formation of the adopted, implemented and used technology. Main findings of this research refer to the understanding of how technology is used to provide the services Banco Lemon wants to deliver and how two different relevant groups interact, negotiate and produce the technology in the practice.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the need for people and communities to develop liquid assets through a savings programme and to work productively with these savings. It had to be taken into consideration that at least some members of the population could be considered non-monetary in their orientation. In order to achieve this objective a participatory and culturally sensitive micro-finance programme was designed through an Action Research methodology. By combining mainly quantitative baseline information, detailed and more qualitative work with some of the participants and routine output from the programme activities, the study aimed to arrive at concrete conclusions concerning the way a micro-finance programme has worked in San conununities and make recommendations regarding its future. lt was found that the programme has made at least some of the participants more conversant with the handling of cash and also contributed to increased self-respect. Developing liquid assets was most difficult for the poorest participants and the majority of these poorest are women. The San people are the poorest; even among other marginal rural minorities and should receive special assistance. The programme was moderately successful in helping participants to save towards larger needs and to even out income flows. It could not be established whether the programme could make a contribution to the development of long~term assets. Initiatives to establish microenterprises with the capital met with only limited success. The programme was not successful in establishing a savings programme as an alternative to cattle farming and should rather be seen as a complementary strategy for increasing household assets. It was found that the emphasis on savings mobilisation, rather than the creation of debt through credit was valid. Increased incomes will lead to increased indebtedness. A higher influx of cash in a San community is likely to be unevenly spread and is also likely to increase the gap between the wealthier and poorer community members. It was concluded that projects that meet basic and immediate needs such as food, shelter and housing, should be integrated with programmes that address larger needs such as loss of culture and land. A process of empowerment cannot be supported when rural poverty is not addressed. / Development Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)

Thesis / The objective of this study is to assess the nature of women’s empowerment promoted by the Sudanese Women General Union (SWGU) in Sudan as a strategy for simultaneously addressing both poverty alleviation and women's empowerment using microcredit as a tool in the fight against poverty and women's empowerment at the household level during the period 1999-2005. The SWGU directed its development efforts towards promoting the women's cause officially and unofficially through the whole spectrum of governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations. Therefore, the government support these initiatives of women development processes and assisted in establishing the SWGU in 1990 as a strategic planning and coordination mechanism for poverty alleviation through the lead of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Development and with the cooperation from other ministries, government and non-government organisations at national, state and grassroots levels. The problem of the research reveals that majority of women in Sudan live with low or no income; economically they are dependent on their husbands' income; burdened with their household activities and responsibilities to feed; educate and take care of many children, encounter a core problem which is lack of access to credit and financial services to economically, socially and politically empower themselves and improve their status. The study reviewed the relevant literature, the context of women's poverty in Sudan, Sudan poverty strategies and policies, SWGU's role in strategic planning, coordination and implementation of the microcredit programmes. The achievements of the study on the socioeconomic empowerment of women at the household levels, the constraints and the recommendations were summarised. The researcher carried out this study during the period 2005-2009, to add to the body of the empirical literature of women studies in particular to the SWGU's microcredit projects best ii practices and lessons learned. In addition the study could help in conducting further womenstudies in Sudan and other developing counties. / Development Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

The purpose of this study is to look in to how microfinance through the VSLAmodel has affected life circumstances of women in rural parts of Uganda. The study also examines whether participation in VSLA-groups leads to empowerment. The results have been derived from qualitative fieldwork, based on semi-structured interviews. Women from the Ugandan districts of Kayunga and Masaka have been interviewed about their experiences of participating in VSLA-groups. The theoretical framework consists of a liberal as well as a postcolonial feminist theorization. The study subject is analyzed by using Martha Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s thoughts on the subaltern. The Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) started working with financial inclusion in 2010 and in 2014 they implemented the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) in their work. It is found in this study that the VSLA-groups who operates guided by the Human Rights Based Approach, have had a positive effect on the life conditions of the interviewed women. The socioeconomic effects have been positive, the women have greater control over their life circumstances and the VSLA-groups have proved empowering. / I denna studies granskas en typ av mikrofinansmodell, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) och dess påverkan på kvinnor på Ugandas landsbygds livsomständigheter. Den undersöker också om deltagande i VSLA-verksamhet leder till empowerment. Studiens resultat bygger på fältarbete bestående av kvalitativa undersökningar. Kvinnor från de ugandiska distrikten Kayunga och Masaka har deltagit i semistrukturerade intervjuer där de berättat om sina upplevelser av att vara med i en VSLA-grupp. Det teoretiska ramverket har en liberal såväl som postkolonial feministisk utgångspunkt. Uppsatsens frågeställningar analyseras genom Martha Nussbaums Capabilities Approach och Gayatri Chakravorty Spivaks tankar om den subalterna. Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) började arbeta med finansiell inkludering 2010 och 2014 implementerade de Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) i sitt arbete. Denna studie finner att VSLA-grupper, vilka arbetar med hjälp av HRBA har en positiv effekt på de intervjuade kvinnornas livsomständigheter. De socioekonomiska effekterna har varit positiva, kvinnorna har fått större kontroll över sina förhållanden och VSLA-grupperna har haft en empowering effekt.

Even though the idea of microcredit is to stimulate entrepreneurial activities in developing countries, there is an ongoing debate whether this is achieved. Many argue that only providing credit is not enough and see a need for additional components in promoting entrepreneurial activities for the stimulation of economic growth. Moreover, the importance of including women in economic development is widely acknowledged. In Lao People's Democratic Republic where many women run their own businesses and a majority of microcredit borrowers are women, we aimed to examine the relation between microcredit and female entrepreneurship. This was accomplished by conducting semi-structured interviews with 13 Laotian female microcredit borrowers running businesses, as well as interviews with seven representatives from organizations related to microcredit and female entrepreneurship. To understand the female entrepreneurs and the environment in which they operate, we developed a model where factors related to the loan agreement, networking, motivation, gender division of labor and training were identified as important components in the context of Lao PDR. The results support the view that a credit only approach is not enough for the development of female entrepreneurship in Lao PDR.

Agroamigo is a program of rural microcredit inserted in the Methodology of the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture and National Program for Oriented Productive Microcredit (PNMPO). IT IS Operated at Banco do Nordeste do Brasil in the Northeastern and Northern States of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo through partnership with Instituto Nordeste Cidadania. Its mission is to promote rural development through the granting of small financing (quantitative vision) for investments and costing in agricultural and non-agricultural activities, whether or not rotating, as well as credit counseling and technical monitoring (qualitative vision) over the term Of the financing. As a productive and oriented rural credit, Agroamigo transcends the mere granting of bank credit and is an instrument of a local and regional development policy, which should be integrated with other regional development policies such as PAA, PGPAF, Proagro, The Family Grant, the Light for All, etc. in order to maximize its social and economic effects. The objective of this work is to explain the effects of the individual perspective and the loco-regional perspective, with Agroamigo, considering the vertiginous and ascending growth in the quantitative of contracted operations in this methodology. It investigates whether this quantitative growth has been accompanied by social and financial changes in the borrowers and their socioeconomic externalities in the municipalities, by inducing a greater flow of capital and circulation of goods and services. The regional area analyzed is the main municipalities "borrowers" in the State of Sergipe, having defined the timeline from 2005 to 2015. It begins with a conceptual and historical-factual approach on PRONAF, the emergence of Agroamigo and Their inclusion in the PNMPO methodology. It proceeds with the presentation of the data collected, the field research performed, the expected results. Finally, it discusses the data and information in light of the thesis raised of the effects of Agroamigo in the regional development. The analysis of the data ratified the positive impacts of Agroamigo on income generation and its effects on the local economy, which justifies the choice of the theme as a relevant issue within the framework of regional development policy and in the process of organizing the rural area. / O Agroamigo é um programa de microcrédito rural inserido no contexto metodológico do Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar e do Programa Nacional de Microcrédito Produtivo Orientado (PNMPO). É Operacionalizado no Banco do Nordeste do Brasil nos Estados do Nordeste e norte de Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo através de parceria com o Instituto Nordeste Cidadania. Sua missão é promover o desenvolvimento rural através da concessão de pequenos financiamentos (visão quantitativa) para investimentos e custeio, em atividades agropecuárias e não agropecuárias, de forma rotativa ou não, bem como orientação creditícia e acompanhamento técnico (visão qualitativa) no decurso do prazo do financiamento. Como crédito rural produtivo e orientado, o Agroamigo, transcede à mera concessão de crédito bancário e figura como instrumento de uma política de desenvolvimento local e regional, que deverá estar integrado às outras políticas de desenvolvimento regional como o PAA, o PGPAF, o Proagro, o Bolsa Família, o Luz Para Todos, etc, de forma a maximizar seus efeitos sociais e econômicos. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo explicitar quais efeitos na perspectiva individual e na perspectiva loco-regional vem trazendo o Agroamigo, considerando o crescimento vertiginoso e ascendente no quantitativo de operações contratadas nessa metodologia. Investiga se esse crescimento quantitativo vem sendo acompanhado de mudanças sociais e financeiras nos tomadores de crédito e suas externalidades socioeconômicas nos municípios, ao induzir maior fluxo de capital e circulação de bens e serviços. O espaço regional analisado são os principais municípios “tomadores de crédito” no Estado de Sergipe, tendo sido definido a linha de tempo de 2005 a 2015. Inicia-se com uma abordagem conceitual e histórico-factual sobre o PRONAF, o surgimento do Agroamigo e sua inserção na metodologia PNMPO. Prossegue com a apresentação dos dados coletados, a pesquisa de campo realizada, os resultados esperados. Por fim discute os dados e informações à luz da tese levantada dos efeitos do Agroamigo no desenvolvimento regional. A análise dos dados ratificou os impactos positivo do Agroamigo na geração de renda e seus efeitos na economia local, o que justifica a escolha do tema como problemática relevante no âmbito da politica de desenvolvimento regional e no processo de organização do espaço rural. / São Cristóvão, SE

L’économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) constitue un champ d’étude très peu exploré au Liban, où ce secteur est méconnu, alors qu’il est supposé constituer l’axe du développement rural de ce pays. Aussi la problématique centrale de cette thèse consiste-t-elle à élucider comment les coopératives agricoles (CA) réussissent à assurer les moyens financiers nécessaires à leur développement. Il s’agit plus précisément de savoir (1) quels sont les modes de financement informel qui soutiennent la croissance du secteur de l’ESS en milieu agricole et (2) quels sont les modes de financement formel desquels dépend la pérennité de ces coopératives. L’étude de la coopération dans les sociétés civiles, de ses modes de gouvernance originaux, des enjeux sociaux et relationnels inhérents à l’interaction de la coopérative avec son environnement et des problèmes d’accès au financement interne et externe des sociétés de l’ES amène à placer au centre de cette discussion la notion d’hybridation des ressources financières internes et externes, entre la contribution du bénévolat, la cotisation des membres, les subventions publiques, nationales régionales ou locales, et les recettes tirées de l’activité elle-même. Les sociétés de l’ESS connaissent en effet un problème particulier : leur forte dépendance envers leurs parties prenantes. Plus particulièrement, le développement des CA se heurte d’une manière régulière : (1) aux problèmes de coûts de production et de commercialisation, portant préjudice à leur marge de profit, donc sur leur capacité d’autofinancement ; (2) aux difficultés du recours à l’emprunt bancaire, généralement associées à des problèmes de collecte de garanties suffisantes pour couvrir les prêts, plus qu’à celle du coût de cet emprunt. Il s’ensuit que les coopérateurs ont du mal à couvrir leurs besoins en fonds de roulement (court terme), en équipements (moyen terme) et en infrastructures (long terme). Cette hypothèse est assise sur deux approches théoriques complémentaires : (1) la théorie de l’agence, permettant de souligner que l’hybridation des ressources financières provient des rapports entre coopérateurs et autres parties prenantes et de mettre en exergue les effets pernicieux des asymétries informationnelles – donc de l’absence de transparence des finalités des coopératives – sur la confiance des pourvoyeurs de fonds, banques et parties prenantes ; (2) la théorie des droits de propriété, laquelle – en conséquence du transfert de ceux-ci à une tierce partie et de la dispersion du capital dans les mains d’un grand nombre d’actionnaires - met en lumière le risque d’adoption de comportements opportunistes par les dirigeants, voire des coopérateurs. Cependant et à l’aune de l’étude du terrain, il apparaît que cette adoption comportementale dépend moins de la géographie du capital que de l’intention préalable des actionnaires. L’étude empirique réalisée dans la seconde partie de cette thèse met en exergue, par-delà la diversité des types d’hybridation des économies des CA libanaises, la nécessité de dépasser l’approche du financement de ces entreprises selon laquelle celles-ci ne mobiliseraient que des ressources marchandes, comme toute entreprise, et des ressources non-marchandes provenant du secteur public pour compenser le manque de productivité ou le manque de rentabilité. Il est question ici d’élargir les perspectives de recherche (1) à la réalité des marchés sur lequel se positionnent les CA grâce à la mobilisation de leurs réseaux sociaux et (2) aux avantages que ces sociétés peuvent tirer en ce qui a trait à l’amélioration de leur développement en termes de réduction de coûts et d’acquisition de connaissances favorables à leur progrès technique... / The social and cooperative economy of Lebanon has been little studied, and this field is little understood, even though it is considered to be a major factor for the development of the country. Therefore, the main issue in this thesis is finding out how the Lebanese cooperatives, and particularly the agricultural cooperatives, manage to assure the funding necessary for their development. To be more precise, it is a question of discovering (1) what are the more informal ways of financing which underlie the growth of the social and cooperative economy especially where farming is concerned and (2) what are the formal ways of financing on which the cooperatives rely in order to endure. The study of cooperation in civil societies, of its original methods of governance, of the social and relational factors inherent in the interaction of a cooperative with its environment, and of the problems of access to internal and external funding shows that central to this discussion is the notion of hybridization of the internal and external financial resources, involving voluntary contributions, the subscriptions of members, the public, national, regional and local subsidies, and the income gained from the actual activity. The cooperative societies in fact face a particular problem, namely their major dependence on their associates. The development of these cooperatives faces (1) problems of production and marketing costs, cutting down their profit margins and so their ability to finance themselves, and (2) difficulties in obtaining bank loans, generally connected with obtaining sufficient guarantees to cover the loans rather than the actual cost of any loan. It follows that the members of cooperatives have difficulty in covering their needs in short-term funding for equipment (medium term) and infrastructure (long term). This hypothesis is based on two complementary theoretical approaches: (1) the theory of agency, allowing emphasis on the fact that hybridization of financial resources comes from relations between cooperative members and other parties involved and showing up the deleterious effects of informational imbalance – with absence of transparency over the aims of the Cooperatives – on the confidence of the providers of funding, such as banks; (2) the theory of the rights of property, which, because of their transfer to a third party and of the dispersion of capital among numerous shareholders, highlights the risk of the adoption of opportunist behavior by the directors or even by the members of the cooperative. However, with study of the terrain, it appears that adoption of this behavior depends less on the geography of the capital than on the original intention of the shareholders. The empirical study made in the second part of this thesis emphasizes, beyond the diversity of the types of hybridization of the economies of the Lebanese agricultural cooperatives, the need to go beyond the question of the funding of these enterprises, according to which these use only marketing resources, like any enterprise, and the non-market resources coming from the public sector in order to make up for the lack of productivity or rentability. There is question here of widening the research (1) to the reality of the markets on which the Agricultural Cooperatives rely thanks to the use of their social networks, and (2) to the advantages that these societies might gain from improving their chances of development by reduction of costs and acquisition of knowledge favoring technical progress. In fact, the public sector shows itself as a provider of resources, while the Cooperatives fail to involve themselves in a mixture of market and redistributive resources, preferring a more complex hybridization based on four types of economic relationships: the market, redistribution, reciprocity and subventions (NGO)...

Social entrepreneurship, loosely defined as delivering social value in a sustainable way using market-based principles, is especially powerful tool in the Third world. Grass-root entrepreneurial approach of developing and empowering those countries from the bottom up is proving to be the most sustainable and efficient solution. First part of this work outlines historical context of the developing world and provides thorough analysis about challenges and threats it is facing. Furthermore, model defining what countries are the "most suitable" for a social venture is described, together with tools that are used nowadays to support the developing world. Second part puts main emphasis on defining and discussing the concept of social entrepreneurship, especially with respect to social venture design. Conclusions and practical recommendations are heavily based on interviews with successful and inspirational social entrepreneurs active in the Third world, as well as with leading NGOs with offices in the Czech Republic. All in all, the ultimate goal of this work is to create a big-picture overview about the reality the developing world is facing and describe how the most sustainable solutions can be designed.

In 2015, United Nations implemented seventeen Sustainable Development Goals along with 169 sub-targets with the ambition to transform the world through achieving sustainable development and, hence annihilate poverty. In light of the foregoing, both authoritative and non-governmental entities accentuated the significance of ‘financial inclusion’ which, in turn, has developed into an evangelical advocacy reminiscent of the extensive publicity that microfinance received at the end of last century which, in turn, has led to an unprecedented passion among philanthrocapitalists, transnational corporations, and other benefactors to financially and socially assist the impoverished. In order to attain the objectives enforced by the United Nations, it is essential to elevate the people located at the bottom of the social hierarchy by minimizing the wealth and gender inequalities that exist. By providing women with equal access to education, job opportunities, financial resources, and representation in economic and political decision- making processes, both domestic and international prosperity will follow. Upon providing access to microfinancial services, microfinance institutions and similar entities have developed into essential tools for empowering women. Academic evidence has previously illustrated a positive association between the probability of accessing these services and the possession of an adequate understanding of economic knowledge – financial literacy. However, the underlying mechanisms of financial literacy and their possible connections to the access of microfinance are complex processes that often have been neglected in current academia. Hence, the purpose of this study is to determine the significant factors of financial literacy and examine how they interplay with the access to microfinancial activities. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to answer the following research question. How does financial literacy favor women’s access to microfinancial services in developing countries? In order to obtain a greater insight into the subject matter, this paper utilizes a single-case study of Hand in Hand Eastern Africa’s operations in Kenya. The empirical findings presented in this qualitative study were collected through semi-structured interviews with managers working on both a local and nationwide level. Upon analyzing the findings, the authors found support in the argument that it is essential for an individual to be financially literate in order to obtain microfinancial services such as microcredit, microinsurance, and loans in kind. Although external forces in the form of social capital, social learning, and dynamic capabilities do not impact the access to microfinance directly, the empirical evidence indicated that an indirect influence on financial literacy exists. A myriad of previous academia has gravitated to emphasize the correlation between financial literacy and women empowerment rather than justifying the association through the examination of the underlying mechanisms. Hence, this thesis should provide valuable acumen about the elements of financial literacy and how they influence the microfinancial machinery as well as women’s socio-cultural and economic empowerment.

No description available.