This page contains articles and papers related to microfinance.
Microcredit does not live up to promise — Microcredit—providing small loans to underserved entrepreneurs—has been both celebrated and vilified as a development tool. Six new studies from four continents bring rigorous evidence to this debate, finding that while microcredit has some benefits, it is not a viable poverty alleviation tool.
Microfinancing Cons — Some basic articles highlighting the cons. Start from "Microfinancing Cons"
Show Me The Data: Self-Employment, AKA Microenterprise — A popular solution is to help people help themselves — and “buy” them a job running their own business. We call these microenterprises, or self-employment, because only the client and sometimes one or two family members work on the particular business. The default ways of supporting these ventures are to provide capital and business training. The question is: Does this always work? As one of my fellow economists likes to quip, “In God we trust. All others must show their data.” So let’s look at the evidence that’s out there.