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Microfinance’s Impact on Education, Poverty, and Empowerment: A Case Study from the Bolivian Altiplano

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  • Sarah Gibb

    (University of Aalborg, Denmark)

Abstract

This study explores the impact of microcredit on economic, educational, and empowerment levels of women from the Bolivian high plains who had acquired microcredit for over three years. Primary research was carried out with the help of a major NGO dedicated solely to microcredit. 100 in-depth personal interviews were conducted by the author in La Paz and El Alto from February to May 2007. This region was chosen because of the wide extent to which microcredit have been implemented here since the 1980s. The author created a control group from women who had never taken out a microcredit. The study employs the use of an established poverty scorecard to measure poverty levels over time. Using a comparative approach that allows a comparison between the independent control group and the loan group, the study finds that while the ownership of goods increased in the loan group, the benefits of microcredit on family educational attainment levels and empowerment are questionable. It is important to note that the vast majority of microcredit research does not use this type of independent control group.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Gibb, 2008. "Microfinance’s Impact on Education, Poverty, and Empowerment: A Case Study from the Bolivian Altiplano," Development Research Working Paper Series 04/2008, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:adv:wpaper:200804
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    1. Ghatak, Maitreesh & Guinnane, Timothy W., 1999. "The economics of lending with joint liability: theory and practice," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 195-228, October.
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    4. James C. Brau & Gary M. Woller, 2004. "Microfinance: A Comprehensive Review of the Existing Literature," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 9(1), pages 1-28, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jos Vaessen & Ana Rivas & Maren Duvendack & Richard Palmer Jones & Frans Leeuw & Ger van Gils & Ruslan Lukach & Nathalie Holvoet & Johan Bastiaensen & Jorge Garcia Hombrados & Hugh Waddington, 2014. "The Effects of Microcredit on Women's Control over Household Spending in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 1-205.
    2. Bateman, Milford, 2013. "The age of microfinance: Destroying Latin American economies from the bottom up," Working Papers 39, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    3. Carinne Brody & Thomas de Hoop & Martina Vojtkova & Ruby Warnock & Megan Dunbar & Padmini Murthy & Shari L. Dworkin, 2015. "Economic Self‐Help group Programs for Improving Women's Empowerment: A Systematic Review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(1), pages 1-182.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microcredit; microfinance; empowerment; development; women; Bolivia.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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