In this concluding excerpt, Morduch and Labie discuss the continuing relevance of microfinance, and re-assess an influential paper authored by Morduch in 1999 called “The Microfinance Promise.” While much has changed since the paper came out, Morduch says he’d keep the title— “The sector can count incredible successes, but the biggest economic and social ambitions remain as promises.”
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Micro-financing Women’s Empowerment and Rural Development: Developing Worlds Interview Part 3
Morduch and Labie take a look back at two of the original goals of the microfinance movement—empowering women, and bolstering rural development—and discuss the evidence on how well interventions have achieved those aims.
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Editors’ Note: Hi, Laura and Jonathan here. A few of the pieces this week come from people who spent years up close with how poor households actually handle money, and keep coming back with something more tangled than the story usually told, and more persistent. Tim will be back for the next edition. - Laura Freschi and Jonathan Morduch