An Introduction to Microfinance: Intervention in Challenging Contexts

This book emerges within the context of the project “The role of microcredit in promoting financial and social inclusion” (funded by FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., Project PTDC/EGE-OGE/31246/2017), with the purpose to shed light on the microfinance and entrepreneurial finance puzzle, particularly on the outcomes of microfinance (and microcredit in particular) for its clients and the access to credit conditions they face, without overlooking the need to evaluate the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their social mission. This book brings new insights into the effectiveness of microcredit as a tool for promoting entrepreneurial activities that may in turn empower individuals living in extreme poverty and vulnerable conditions across several dimensions of human development in the challenging times faced by both individuals and the microfinance industry. The book is organized in three parts, encompassing eighteen chapters. Part I “Financial system and Institutionalist approach” with seven chapters focuses the supply side of microfinance, namely the economic efficiency, financial performance, and sustainability of the market and MFIs. Part II “Poverty lending and welfarism approach” with five chapters emphasizes the analysis of the demand side of microfinance, that is, on the microfinance effects on individuals, assessing microfinance outcomes in challenging contexts, namely their social outreach, and their impact assessment, mainly through qualitative approaches. Finally, Part III “Generalists studies” encapsulates five chapters offering a financial perspective on microfinance access, credit conditions of financial intermediation, and microcredit performance. This book in turn contributes to academic research by stimulating investigations into new borders between microfinance and entrepreneurial finance and social entrepreneurship, which remain rather scarce. In terms of societal impact, this book briefs a set of contributions that address the specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the microfinance market of eliminating extreme poverty (SDG1), promoting shared economic growth (SDG8), and reducing the inequalities among countries (SDG10).