IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/agr/journl/v1(638)y2024i1(638)p179-186.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Microfinance and poverty reduction: an empirical evidence from SAARC nations

Author

Listed:
  • Samreen FAROOQ

    (Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India)

  • Prof. S.M. Jawed AKHTAR

    (Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India)

Abstract

The article empirically examines the impact of microfinance on poverty alleviation in the SAARC region. The study uses panel data from 2000 to 2019 for five selected SAARC countries. The proxy variable for microfinance is gross loan portfolio per capita, and poverty is measured by household consumption expenditure per capita. The other variables are the percentage of active borrowers to the total population, government expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP, and credit to the private sector by banks as a percentage of GDP. The panel data regression model is used to explain the relationship among the variables. Hausman Test suggests the use of the Fixed Effect Model. The results of the Fixed Effect Model reveal that by controlling other variables, the countries having higher Gross Loan Portfolio per capita have higher household consumption expenditure per capita and thus have lower incidences of poverty. R2 value concludes that the concerned variables explain 94.1% of variations in household consumption expenditure per capita.

Suggested Citation

  • Samreen FAROOQ & Prof. S.M. Jawed AKHTAR, 2024. "Microfinance and poverty reduction: an empirical evidence from SAARC nations," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(638), S), pages 179-186, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:agr:journl:v:1(638):y:2024:i:1(638):p:179-186
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://store.ectap.ro/articole/1730.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.ectap.ro/articol.php?id=1730&rid=154
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asad K. Ghalib & Issam Malki & Katsushi S. Imai, 2015. "Microfinance and Household Poverty Reduction: Empirical Evidence from Rural Pakistan," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 84-104, March.
    2. Hisako, KAI & Shigeyuki, HAMORI, 2009. "Microfinance and Inequality," MPRA Paper 17537, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Amin, Sajeda & Rai, Ashok S. & Topa, Giorgio, 2003. "Does microcredit reach the poor and vulnerable? Evidence from northern Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 59-82, February.
    4. Shahidur R. Khandker, 2005. "Microfinance and Poverty: Evidence Using Panel Data from Bangladesh," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 19(2), pages 263-286.
    5. Katsushi S. Imai & Raghav Gaiha & Ganesh Thapa & Samuel Kobina Annim, 2010. "Analysis of Poverty Reducing Effects of Microfinance from a Macro Perspective: Evidence from Cross-Country Data," Discussion Paper Series DP2010-25, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    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. Inoue, Takeshi & Hamori, Shigeyuki, 2011. "Financial permeation as a role of microfinance : has microfinance actually been helpful to the poor?," IDE Discussion Papers 299, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    2. Md. Masud Parvej & Md. Asad Iqbal Chowdhury & Md. Kazi Golam Azam & Md. Musharof Hossain & Abdullah Mohammad Ahshanul Mamun, 2020. "Role of Islamic Microfinance in Alleviating Poverty in Bangladesh: A Study on RDS of IBBL," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(4), pages 111-129, July.
    3. Kamel Bel Hadj Miled & Moheddine Younsi & Monia Landolsi, 2022. "Does microfinance program innovation reduce income inequality? Cross-country and panel data analysis," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Weiss, John & Montgomery, Heather & Kurmanalieva, Elvira, 2003. "Micro finance and poverty reduction in Asia: what is the evidence?," MPRA Paper 33140, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Thapa, Ganesh & Annim, Samuel Kobina, 2012. "Microfinance and Poverty—A Macro Perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1675-1689.
    6. Flore Gubert & François Roubaud, 2005. "Analyser l’impact d’un projet de Micro-finance : l’exemple d’ADéFI à Madagascar," Working Papers DT/2005/14, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    7. Ndlovu, Godfrey & Toerien, Francois, 2020. "The distributional impact of access to finance on poverty: evidence from selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. Coleman, Brett E., 2006. "Microfinance in Northeast Thailand: Who benefits and how much?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1612-1638, September.
    9. Collin Chikwira & Edson Vengesai & Petronella Mandude, 2022. "The Impact of Microfinance Institutions on Poverty Alleviation," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-13, September.
    10. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    11. Asma Boussetta, 2022. "Microfinance, Poverty and Education," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 64(1), pages 86-108, March.
    12. Trabelsi, Mohamed Ali & Chichti, Jameleddine, 2011. "Les Institutions de Microcrédit et la Lutte Contre la Pauvreté : L’initiative d’Enda Interarabe en Tunisie [Microcredit Institutions and the Battle Against Poverty: The Pan-Arab Enda Initiative in ," MPRA Paper 77019, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2011.
    13. Debadutta Kumar Panda, 2017. "Impact assessment of group-based credit–lending projects with controlled project placement bias and self-selection bias," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 44(3), pages 227-238, September.
    14. Suman Ghosh & Eric Van Tassel, 2008. "A Model of Mission Drift in Microfinance Institutions," Working Papers 08003, Department of Economics, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University.
    15. Waqas Umar Latif & Sana Ullah & Wasim Ahmed & Muhammad Umar Sultan & Rana Muhammad Sohail Jafar & Muhammad Tariq & Wang Linping, 2020. "Microcredit and Economic Welfare: Experience of Poor Rural Households from Pakistan," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 976-997, August.
    16. Mathilde Maîtrot & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2017. "Poverty and wellbeing impacts of microfinance: What do we know?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-190, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Toshio Kondo & Aniceto Orbeta Jr. & Clarence Dingcong & Christine Infantado, 2008. "Impact of Microfinance on Rural Households in the Philippines," Development Economics Working Papers 22639, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    18. Kamel Bel hadj Miled & Jalel-Eddine Ben Rejeb, 2018. "Can Microfinance Help to Reduce Poverty? A Review of Evidence for Developing Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(2), pages 613-635, June.
    19. Julius H. Kotir & Franklin Obeng-Odoom, 2009. "Microfinance and Rural Household Development," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 25(1), pages 85-105, January.
    20. Dilruba Khanam & Muhammad Mohiuddin & Asadul Hoque & Olaf Weber, 2018. "Financing micro-entrepreneurs for poverty alleviation: a performance analysis of microfinance services offered by BRAC, ASA, and Proshika from Bangladesh," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, December.

    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:agr:journl:v:1(638):y:2024:i:1(638):p:179-186. 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: Mircea Dinu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/agerrea.html .

    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.