IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/fbbsrw/v9y2020i2p78-84.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Resurgence of an Ancient Idea? A Study on the History of Microfinance

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Zainuddin
  • Ida Md Yasin

Abstract

Microfinance revolution, as it was frequently called, did not happen overnight. Microfinance has a long history of evolution, from a simple idea to a global movement, through which it came into the present shape. But much of its history is yet to be written systematically. In fact, there is no historical research so far from the perspective of microfinance. Little is thus known about the early history of some of the oldest forms of lending to the poor. The current study offers a historical look at microfinance and aims at documenting the evolution of modern microfinance institutions. The object of the research is to recognize the historical depth of microfinance and give a picture of how this idea emerged and developed overtime. The study reveals that moneylending to the poor was always in existence in various forms in different periods of time in both developing and developed countries. It has a long history, particularly in Asia but also in Africa and Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Zainuddin & Ida Md Yasin, 2020. "Resurgence of an Ancient Idea? A Study on the History of Microfinance," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 9(2), pages 78-84, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:fbbsrw:v:9:y:2020:i:2:p:78-84
    DOI: 10.1177/2319714520925933
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2319714520925933
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2319714520925933?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. Khandker, S.R. & Khalily, B. & Khan, Z., 1995. "Grameen Bank: Performance and Sustainability," World Bank - Discussion Papers 306, World Bank.
    2. Khan, Azizur Rahman, 1979. "The Comilla model and the integrated rural development programme of Bangladesh: An experiment in `cooperative capitalism'," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 7(4-5), pages 397-422.
    3. Sougata Ray, 2019. "Challenges and changes in Indian rural credit market: a review," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 79(3), pages 338-352, June.
    4. 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.
    5. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
    6. Seibel, Hans Dieter, 2005. "Does History Matter? The Old and the New World of Microfinance in Europe and Asia," Working Papers 2005,10, University of Cologne, Development Research Center.
    7. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1990. "Peer Monitoring and Credit Markets," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 4(3), pages 351-366, September.
    8. Hollis, Aidan & Sweetman, Arthur, 2001. "The life-cycle of a microfinance institution: the Irish loan funds," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 291-311, November.
    9. Andrea Gatto, 2018. "Historical Roots of Microcredit and Usury: The Role of Monti di Pietà in Italy and in the Kingdom of Naples in XV–XX Centuries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 911-914, July.
    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.
    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. Prabal Roy Chowdhury, 2003. "Group-lending: Sequential financing, lender monitoring and joint liability," Discussion Papers 04-10, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    2. Simon Zaby, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Microfinance: Influential Authors and Documents, 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-21, July.
    3. 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.
    4. Prabirendra Chatterjee & Sudipta, Sarangi, "undated". "Social Identity and Group Lending," Working Papers UWEC-2005-06-R, University of Washington, Department of Economics.
    5. Emilios Galariotis & Christophe Villa & Nurmukhammad Yusupov, 2011. "Recent Advances in Lending to the Poor with Asymmetric Information," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(9), pages 1371-1390, July.
    6. João Paulo Coelho Ribeiro & Fábio Duarte & Ana Paula Matias Gama, 2022. "Does microfinance foster the development of its clients? A bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-35, December.
    7. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Chowdhury, Prabal Roy & Sengupta, Kunal, 2014. "Sequential lending with dynamic joint liability in micro-finance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 167-180.
    8. Kumar Aniket, 2007. "Does Subsidising the Cost of Capital Help the Poorest? An Analysis of Saving Opportunities in Group Lending," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 140, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    9. Jeon, Doh-Shin & Menicucci, Domenico, 2011. "When is the optimal lending contract in microfinance state non-contingent?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(5), pages 720-731, June.
    10. Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 2003. "Collusion and group lending with adverse selection," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 329-348, April.
    11. Xavier Gine & Dean Karlan, 2006. "Group versus Individual Liability: A Field Experiment in the Philippines," Working Papers 940, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    12. Karaivanov, Alexander & Kessler, Anke, 2018. "(Dis)advantages of informal loans – Theory and evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 100-128.
    13. Agarwal, Sumit & Ambrose, Brent W. & Chomsisengphet, Souphala & Liu, Chunlin, 2016. "Joint liability lending and credit risk: Evidence from the home equity market," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 47-66.
    14. Baulia, Susmita, 2019. "Take-up of joint and individual liability loans: An analysis with laboratory experiment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    15. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13356 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Giovanni BUSETTA & Alberto ZAZZARO, 2006. "Mutual Loan-Guarantee Societies in Credit Markets with Adverse Selection: Do They Act as a Sorting Device?," Working Papers 273, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    17. Ahlin, Christian, 2015. "The role of group size in group lending," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 140-155.
    18. DeanS. Karlan, 2007. "Social connections and group banking," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(517), pages 52-84, February.
    19. Tressel, Thierry, 2003. "Dual Financial Systems and Inequalities in Economic Development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 223-257, June.
    20. Carli, Francesco & Uras, Burak R., 2017. "Joint-liability with endogenously asymmetric group loan contracts," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 72-90.
    21. Gustavo A. Barboza & Humberto Barreto, 2006. "Learning By Association: Micro Credit In Chiapas, Mexico," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 24(2), pages 316-331, April.

    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:sae:fbbsrw:v:9:y:2020:i:2:p:78-84. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.