Credit guarantee schemes supporting small enterprise development: A review

Access to finance has become increasingly difficult, particularly for new and service-based industries without tangible assets to use as security. Globally, credit guarantee schemes (CGS) are seen as important instruments to facilitate achievement of national economic goals, as they enable entrepreneurs to gain access to finance for venture creation and development. We reviewed CGS literature between 1990 and early 2011. We discovered largely descriptive studies on the various conditions of the guarantees, and considerable research gaps. The desirability of CGS appears to be assumed whilst measurement of CGS performance provides ambiguous results. We recommend research in a variety of areas including: identification of factors that minimise risk, the impacts of varying risk sharing ratios, unintended CGS consequences, reporting the social dimensions, valuing intangibles, default rates in Asian countries, and collateral in a knowledge based economy

Assessing Microfinance for Water and Sanitation: Exploring Opportunities for Sustainable Scaling Up

The objective of this study, commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is to assess the potential market for using microfinance in the water and sanitation sector, and to identify specific opportunities for potential learning, investment, and support. This report focuses on these opportunities and suggests measures that are needed for sustainable scaling up, which can be supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other development institutions

Social Boundaries and Economic Dilemmas: Microfinancial Practices in Western Mexico

Latin American Studie

The Effect of Strategic Flexibility as a Moderating Variable in Improving Firm Performance in Microfinance Institutions

Purpose: This study aims to determine and analyze the effect of intangible assets in increasing sustainable competitive advantage and performance in microfinance institutions as well as the influence of strategic flexibility as a moderating variable.   Theoretical framework: The five variables studied, namely intellectual capital and social capital, each measured with three dimensions as independent variables, sustainable competitive advantage as variable intervening and performance as dependent variables, and the influence of strategic flexibility moderation.   Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted with a quantitative approach; questioners were given to MFI leaders in Madura while analysis of the influence of each variable using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) techniques with the help of SmartPLS 3.0 software.   Findings: The results of the analysis show that intellectual capital has a significant effect on sustainable competitive advantage and performance, social capital has a significant impact on sustainable competitive advantage but does not affect performance, while strategic flexibility weakens the influence of intellectual capital on firm performance and strengthens the effect of social capital on performance.   Research, Practical & Social Implications: The following study can be more detailed by measuring and exploring the influence of each dimension, both social capital and intellectual capital dimensions. Company leaders must continue to increase the value of intellectual capital and develop social relations and utilize these relationships in alternative strategies.   Originality/value: This study investigates the influence of intellectual capital and social capital on sustainable competitive advantage and performance in a hyper-competitive business environment as well as the effect of moderation of strategic flexibility with research objects in Islamic microfinance institutions.

Working Paper 41 - Informal Finance for Private Sector Development in Africa

More than a decade after substantial macroeconomic reforms were initiated in many Africancountries, aggregate growth, has at best remained inconsistent in many of those reforming countries.While the reasons for poor aggregate performance vary across countries, there is substantial evidencethat in many countries, poor private sector investment response in the medium-to-long term has delayedlong term growth. The poor response of the private sector might generally be attributed to varyingfactors in different countries. Indeed, various surveys suggest that a more vigorous response from theprivate sector in many countries has been impeded by a number of institutional, structural, and financialconstraints. (See Box 1).The apparent dearth of medium-term financing, the rudimentary nature of capital markets and theweaknesses in financial intermediation in general have made it difficult for private businesses to find themeans of financing other than short term bank credit. On the other hand, the generally low profitabilityof many private firms and the low overall level of domestic savings limit the prospects for investmentfinancing from their own resources.While the obstacles to private sector development are many, the financial constraints have receivedthe most attention from both governments and donors. Throughout the 1980s, it was fashionable toblame the financing constraints of the private sector on the inadequacies of banking systems and theirpoor perceptions of the creditworthiness of the small ventures that dominate African economies.Increasingly, however, possible solutions to the underlying factors behind the reluctance of commercialand other banks to lend to small enterprises are being sought, as more and more people begin tounderstand the problems of banks in relation to their structures and policy bottlenecks.In view of the continuing problems with finance, it is not surprising that reform of the financialsector became a major component of economic reform programmes in many countries. Reforms werenecessitated by the observation that various policy regimes shifted the allocation of investible fundsfrom the market to the government. In many countries, banking institutions simply became institutionsfor financing the budget deficit or covering operating losses incurred by parastatals. Reforms were alsomade necessary by the fact that financial repression generally hindered the development of the institutionalcapacity of financial institutions in their development of the commercial viability of their operations. As banks failed to develop the capacity for risk assessment and monitoring of optimal management of theirloan portfolio, they became uninterested in investing in information capital which is crucial for thedevelopment of financial systems.The reform of financial markets has taken the form of significant liberalization as countries shiftedfrom the ‘repressive’ regimes, characteristic of the pre-adjustment era. Governments are no longerrequired to play major roles in determining credit flows through a system of subsidies, interest rateceilings, credit allocation and direct intervention.

Corporate Governance, Intellectual Capital and Financial Performance of Banks listed in Pakistan Stock Exchange

This study aims to examine the impact of Corporate Governance (CG) and Intellectual Capital (IC) on financial performance in banks listed in Pakistan stock exchange. Due to the different scope of business, the banks are dived into two groups - Commercial banks and Microfinance & investment banks, and analyzed their data separately. We have used Generalized Least Squared (GLS) model to examine the impact of Corporate Governance and Intellectual Capital, and then impact of Intellectual capital on financial performance. The results show that Corporate Governance has significant impact on intellectual capital in both groups of banks. Board ownership has positive significant coefficient only in case of microfinance & investment banks, while Board size and Board independence significantly improve intellectual capital efficiency in case of both types of banks. Human capital efficiency significantly effects financial performance in Microfinance and investment banks, whereas commercial banks improve their financial performance through structural capital efficiency

Essays on the Performance, Subsidization and Internationalization of Social Enterprises

publishedVersio

Essays on entrepreneurship in a geographical context

This thesis is a portfolio of three papers illuminating entrepreneurship through a geographical lens, particularly focusing on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, The first essay develops a theoretical model on the role of geography in crowdfunding preferences. The model is embedded in a theoretical review of literature on trends towards re-regionalization, or re-localization, in a globalized world. The model also accommodates for prominent examples of crowdfunding that attracted supporters irrespective of geography, developing that branch of the model on a discussion of literature on the passionate pursuit of special interests and herding within special interest groups globally. The second essay explores crowdfunding in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, especially the opportunities and challenges of crowdfunding. Microfinance, which has traditionally played an important role in African entrepreneurial development, is complemented with the opportunities provided by crowdfunding. Particular emphasis is given to cultural aspects surrounding crowdfunding, linking this relatively new phenomenon to longstanding African cultural traditions, such as harambee in Kenyan culture. Ongoing trends surrounding crowdfunding are identified, such as the rise of mobile payments, highlighting the potential of crowdfunding in sub-Saharan Africa. The third essay explores transnational acceleration. Transnational accelerator programs are a particular form of acceleration, offering startups fast-track access to different geographical locations. Focusing on innovation-driven entrepreneurship, this study explores the purposefully selected case of Building Global Innovators, which is a transnational accelerator based jointly in Portugal and Massachusetts. This study explores the extent of financial resources that the transnational accelerator program consumes in terms of its operating expenses in the context of the overall performance of the transnational accelerator program. Applying qualitative research, it this essay also explores the core value-added that a transnational accelerator provides to the startups it hosts.Esta tese é um portfólio de três artigos que revelam o empreendedorismo através da lente geográfica, particularmente com foco no ecossistema empreendedor. O primeiro ensaio desenvolve um modelo teórico sobre o papel da geografia nas escolhas de crowdfunding. O modelo está incorporado numa revisão teórica da literatura sobre as tendências para a re-regionalização, ou a re-localização, num mundo globalizado. O modelo também se adequa a exemplos conhecidos de crowdfunding que possam atrair apoiantes, em todo o mundo e independentemente da geografia, desenvolvendo-se esse ramo do modelo numa discussão da literatura, acerca da busca apaixonada de interesses especiais, e também em herding, em grupos com interesses especiais. O segundo ensaio explora o crowdfunding no contexto da África subsaariana, especialmente as oportunidades e os desafios deste. O microfinanciamento, que tradicionalmente desempenhou um papel importante no desenvolvimento empresarial africano, é complementado com as oportunidades oferecidas pelo crowdfunding. É dada especial ênfase aos aspectos culturais em torno do mesmo, ligando este fenómeno relativamente novo a tradições culturais africanas de longa data, como harambee na cultura queniana. As tendências contínuas em torno do crowdfunding são identificadas, como o aumento dos pagamentos móveis, destacando o potencial de crowdfunding na África subsaariana. O terceiro ensaio analisa o modelo de aceleração transnacional. Os programas aceleradores transnacionais são uma forma particular de aceleração, oferecendo às startups acesso rápido a diferentes localizações geográficas. Com foco no empreendedorismo e inovação, este estudo explora o caso de Building Global Innovators, que é um acelerador transnacional baseado em Portugal e Massachusetts, e que foi propositadamente selecionado para este estudo. O estudo explora a extensão dos recursos financeiros que o programa acelerador transnacional consome em termos de suas despesas operacionais no contexto do desempenho geral do programa acelerador transnacional. Aplicando pesquisa qualitativa, este ensaio também explora o valor central que um acelerador transnacional fornece às startups

The Influence of Human Capital Elements on Performance: Evidence from West Java SMEs

The purpose of this paper is to establish the Influence of Human Capital Elements on Performance: Evidence from West Java SMEs. A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey on 250 SME and 897 respondents that are representative of 397 SMEs and 1,087 respondents. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to ascertain the validity of the hypotheses. The result was established that human capital elements (employee educational level, experience and motivation) are associated with SME`s performance. Furthermore, human capital as a whole accounts for 55.9 percent of the variation in performance Indonesia`s SMEs. Finally, human capital was studied and by the virtual of the results, there are other factors that contribute to SME`s performance that were not part of this study. Keywords: human capital, education, experience, motivation, performanc