IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/abk/jajeba/ajebasp.2022.31.43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contextualizing Microcredit in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary: A Focus Group Exploration

Author

Listed:
  • Domenica Federico
  • Andrea Calzolari
  • Antonella Notte
  • Lucia Poletti
  • Matteo Solivo
  • Giulio Tagliavini

Abstract

Microfinance is gaining importance as a toolto reduce poverty and promote financial and social inclusion. The main goal ofthe paper is to analyze the role of microcredit to solve the problem of the creditaccess to vulnerable people. The paper focuses on the direct experience ofpeople who have used microcredit living in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary toanalyze the use of microcredit in these areas. From the methodological point ofview, the research uses focus groups to investigate on customer relations withthe banking system, microcredit, social and financial exclusion, and possiblealternatives to microcredit. In this way, it is possible to analyze mechanismsthrough which the involvement in microcredit operations results in positive(and negative) effects on people's lives. Results show that microcredit is agreat opportunity to facilitate employment, create jobs, increase productivity,improve living conditions promote social integration. Results show that servicesof mentoring and coaching improve entrepreneurship skills or vocational(technical) know-how. These services help to improve access to finance forvulnerable individuals and to support better living conditions. We identifycurrent good practices among microfinance services to understand thefuture potential role of microcredit propose concrete in particular areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Domenica Federico & Andrea Calzolari & Antonella Notte & Lucia Poletti & Matteo Solivo & Giulio Tagliavini, 2022. "Contextualizing Microcredit in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary: A Focus Group Exploration," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 14(1), pages 31-43, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:abk:jajeba:ajebasp.2022.31.43
    DOI: 10.3844/ajebasp.2022.31.43
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://thescipub.com/pdf/ajebasp.2022.31.43.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://thescipub.com/abstract/ajebasp.2022.31.43
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3844/ajebasp.2022.31.43?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hartarska, Valentina & Nadolnyak, Denis, 2008. "An Impact Analysis of Microfinance in Bosnia and Herzegovina," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2605-2619, December.
    2. Britta Augsburg & Ralph De Haas & Heike Harmgart & Costas Meghir, 2015. "The Impacts of Microcredit: Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 183-203, January.
    3. Gyorgy Molnar & Attila Havas, 2019. "Escaping from the poverty trap with social innovation: a social microcredit programme in Hungary," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1912, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    4. Michal Matul & Caroline Tsilikounas, 2004. "Role of microfinance in the household reconstruction process in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 429-466.
    5. Rachael Meager, 2019. "Understanding the Average Impact of Microcredit Expansions: A Bayesian Hierarchical Analysis of Seven Randomized Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 57-91, January.
    6. Miriam Bruhn & Dean Karlan & Antoinette Schoar, 2010. "What Capital Is Missing in Developing Countries?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 629-633, May.
    7. Rachael Meager, 2015. "Understanding the Impact of Microcredit Expansions: A Bayesian Hierarchical Analysis of 7 Randomised Experiments," Papers 1506.06669, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2016.
    8. Meager, Rachael, 2019. "Understanding the average impact of microcredit expansions: a Bayesian hierarchical analysis of seven randomized experiments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88190, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abhijit Banerjee & Emily Breza & Esther Duflo & Cynthia Kinnan, 2019. "Can Microfinance Unlock a Poverty Trap for Some Entrepreneurs?," NBER Working Papers 26346, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Daniel Bjorkegren & Joshua Blumenstock & Omowunmi Folajimi-Senjobi & Jacqueline Mauro & Suraj R. Nair, 2022. "Instant Loans Can Lift Subjective Well-Being: A Randomized Evaluation of Digital Credit in Nigeria," Papers 2202.13540, arXiv.org.
    3. Tamara Broderick & Ryan Giordano & Rachael Meager, 2020. "An Automatic Finite-Sample Robustness Metric: When Can Dropping a Little Data Make a Big Difference?," Papers 2011.14999, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2023.
    4. Bernardus Van Doornik & Armando Gomes & David Schoenherr & Janis Skrastins, 2024. "Financial Access and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Credit Lotteries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(6), pages 1854-1881, June.
    5. Laston Petro Manja & Isatou A. Badjie, 2022. "The Welfare Effects of Formal and Informal Financial Access in the Gambia: A Comparative Assessment," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    6. Oriana Bandiera & Robin Burgess & Erika Deserranno & Ricardo Morel & Imran Rasul & Munshi Sulaiman & Jack Thiemel, 2022. "Microfinance and Diversification," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(S1), pages 239-275, June.
    7. Simo, Christelle & Tchakoute Tchuigoua, Hubert & Nzongang, Joseph, 2023. "Does corporate social responsibility pay? Evidence from social ratings in microfinance institutions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    8. Dagmara Celik Katreniak & Alexey Khazanov & Omer Moav & Zvika Neeman & Hosny Zoabi, 2023. "Why Not Borrow, Invest, and Escape Poverty?," Papers 2305.02546, arXiv.org.
    9. Nikolas Kuschnig & Gregor Zens & Jesús Crespo Cuaresma, 2021. "Hidden in Plain Sight: Influential Sets in Linear Models," CESifo Working Paper Series 8981, CESifo.
    10. Mohammed Seid Hussen & Mustafe Abdi Mohamed, 2023. "Impact of financial inclusion on household welfare in Ethiopia," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    11. Bernardus F Nazar Van Doornik & Armando Gomes & David Schoenherr & Janis Skrastins, 2023. "Financial access and labor market outcomes: evidence from credit lotteries," BIS Working Papers 1071, Bank for International Settlements.
    12. Meager, Rachael, 2022. "Aggregating distributional treatment effects: a Bayesian hierarchical analysis of the microcredit literature," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115559, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Morduch, Jonathan, 2020. "Why RCTs failed to answer the biggest questions about microcredit impact," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    14. Dahal, Mahesh & Fiala, Nathan, 2020. "What do we know about the impact of microfinance? The problems of statistical power and precision," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    15. Bo, Hao & Galiani, Sebastian, 2021. "Assessing external validity," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 274-285.
    16. Lucia Dalla Pellegrina & Giorgio Di Maio & Paolo Landoni & Emanuele Rusinà, 2021. "Money management and entrepreneurial training in microfinance: impact on beneficiaries and institutions," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(3), pages 1049-1085, October.
    17. Emily Breza & Cynthia Kinnan, 2021. "Measuring the Equilibrium Impacts of Credit: Evidence from the Indian Microfinance Crisis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1447-1497.
    18. Fang, Guanfu & Gao, Tiantian & He, Huanlang & Sun, Qian, 2023. "Public credit information arrangements and entrepreneurship: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    19. Fall, François Seck & Tchakoute Tchuigoua, Hubert & Vanhems, Anne & Simar, Léopold, 2022. "Investigating the unobserved heterogeneity effect on microfinance social efficiency," LIDAM Discussion Papers ISBA 2022010, Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA).
    20. Holla,Alaka & Bendini,Maria Magdalena & Dinarte Diaz,Lelys Ileana & Trako,Iva, 2021. "Is Investment in Preprimary Education Too Low ? Lessons from (Quasi) ExperimentalEvidence across Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9723, The World Bank.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:abk:jajeba:ajebasp.2022.31.43. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jeffery Daniels (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://thescipub.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.