Lending Groups and Different Social Capitals in Developed and Developing Countries

Lending groups (LGs) and social capital are two central elements to the many microfinance solutions operating around the world. However, LG effectiveness in reducing transaction costs and lending risks for microfinance institutions (MFIs) is mediated by institutional environments. Starting from this assumption, we discuss the existent interactions between the institutional environments of developed (Anglo-Saxon and communitarian) and developing countries with different stocks of social capital (individual, network and institutional) and the influences of this interaction on LG effectiveness. In order to do so, we applied the institutional perspective of O. Williamson to build a theoretical framework to examine the interaction of all these conditions, allowing for analysis of their main relations within the microfinance context. Based on this framework, we propose on the one hand that in developing and Anglo-Saxon developed nations, stocks of both individual and network social capital are the most important for an LG’s effectiveness. However, in Anglo-Saxon countries, these two stocks of social capital are complemented by formal contracting devices. In communitarian developed countries, on the other hand, the stocks of institutional social capital have a stronger positive impact on LG dynamics

Women on the Front Line: The Growth of SMEs during Crises

International audienceWe investigate the relationship between women's participation and the growth of 10,445 Brazilian SMEs operating in a widespread economic crisis. Our study is motivated by the disproportional unemployment scores observed among women during the COVID19 pandemic. We used stepwise regression and conditional process analysis to test all our hypotheses. We found that an increase of women employees in the total workforce of SMEs boosts their growth. This indicates that the disproportional spikes in women's unemployment observed during recessions are not only unjust but also harmful to SMEs striving to weather crises. We also identified that these firms grow further by increasing women employees' wages and job tenure, by preferring more women with higher levels of education and longer job tenure, or retaining more educated women who are better paid at the same time. Our findings rebuke the rationale behind the disproportional layoffs of women workers in times of crisis. They indicate that SMEs should sustain their female workforce to increase chances of weathering widespread economic crises. Our results can help alleviate the predicament experienced by women workers during economic crises, and support policies designed to reduce the persistent gender gap in businesses

Lending Groups and Different Social Capitals in Developed and Developing Countries

Lending groups (LGs) and social capital are two central elements to the many microfinance solutions operating around the world. However, LG effectiveness in reducing transaction costs and lending risks for microfinance institutions (MFIs) is mediated by institutional environments. Starting from this assumption, we discuss the existent interactions between the institutional environments of developed (Anglo-Saxon and communitarian) and developing countries with different stocks of social capital (individual, network and institutional) and the influences of this interaction on LG effectiveness. In order to do so, we applied the institutional perspective of O. Williamson to build a theoretical framework to examine the interaction of all these conditions, allowing for analysis of their main relations within the microfinance context. Based on this framework, we propose on the one hand that in developing and Anglo-Saxon developed nations, stocks of both individual and network social capital are the most important for an LG’s effectiveness. However, in Anglo-Saxon countries, these two stocks of social capital are complemented by formal contracting devices. In communitarian developed countries, on the other hand, the stocks of institutional social capital have a stronger positive impact on LG dynamics