Un Enfoque de Sistemas Financieros para las Microempresas

The paper argues that microenterprise finance should be treated as part of the development of the financial system, in order to reach large numbers of people without a need for large continuing subsidies. The financial systems approach treats microenterprises as a market, offering a product with attributes clients want at a price that covers costs. The approach aims for financial viability of lending institutions, and it stresses that savings are equal in importance to credit. The report describes principles of credit delivery that have proved effective with poor clients. It also examines the prospects for financial viability among the nongovernmental and financial institutions that provide microenterprise finance. Suggestions are made on institutional support requirements, the role of donor organizations, and government policies to support growth of financial services for microenterprises

The 800-Pound Grouper in the Room: Asymptotic Body Size and Invasiveness of Marine Aquarium Fishes

The global trade in aquatic wildlife destined for home aquaria not only has the potential to be a positive force for conservation, but also has a number of potential risks. The greatest and most documented risk is the potential to translocate species that will become invasive in a new habitat. Although propagule pressure can influence species invasiveness, a high percentage of documented marine aquarium fish that are invasive in the US are uncommon in the trade. Here, the covariation of size with species invasiveness was assessed using a web scraper to collect size, price, life history characteristics, and behavior data from five internet retail stores for 775 species of fish. Fish that routinely exceed 100. cm in total length are traded, nevertheless are typically sold at sizes much smaller than their theoretical maximum. No economic benefit from the sale of species that will outgrow tanks and have a high risk of being released was found. Large fish, including groupers that can achieve weights of 800 pounds, will continue to enter the trade because the growth of aquaculture for commercial food markets is making it easier to acquire these species that also have appealing small life stages, making it easier and less expensive to bring these species into the aquarium trade. The entire trade should consider taking concerted action to limit the trade in fish that are likely to become invasive

When Pets become Pests: The Role of the Exotic Pet Trade in Producing Invasive Vertebrate Animals

The annual trade in exotic vertebrates as pets is a multi-billion- dollar global business. Thousands of species, and tens of millions of individual animals, are shipped both internationally and within countries to satisfy this demand. Most research on the exotic pet trade has focused on its contribution to native biodiversity loss and disease spread. Here, we synthesize information across taxa and research disciplines to document the exotic pet trade’s contribution to vertebrate biological invasions. We show recent and substantial worldwide growth in the number of non-native animal populations introduced via this invasion pathway, which demonstrates a strong potential to increase the number of invasive animals in the future. Key to addressing the invasion threat of exotic pets is learning more about the socioeconomic forces that drive the massive growth in the exotic pet market and the socioecological factors that underlie pet release by owners. These factors likely vary according to cultural pet-keeping traditions across regions and whether purchases were legal or illegal. These gaps in our understanding of the exotic pet trade must be addressed in order to implement effective policy solutions

Health researchers’ experiences, perceptions and barriers related to sharing study results with participants

Abstract Background Although research participants are generally interested in receiving results from studies in which they participate, health researchers rarely communicate study findings to participants. The present study was designed to provide opportunity for a broad group of health researchers to describe their experiences and concerns related to sharing results (i.e. aggregate study findings) with research participants. Methods We used a mixed–methods concurrent triangulation design, relying on an online survey to capture health researchers’ experiences, perceptions and barriers related to sharing study results with participants. Respondents were health researchers who conduct research that includes the consent of human subjects and hold a current appointment at an accredited academic medical institution within the United States. For quantitative data, the analytic strategy focused on item-level descriptive analyses. For the qualitative data, analyses focused on a priori themes and emergent subthemes. Results Respondents were 414 researchers from 44 academic medical institutions; 64.5% reported that results should always be shared with participants, yet 60.8% of respondents could identify studies in which they had a leadership role where results were not shared. Emergent subthemes from researchers’ reasons why results should be shared included participant ownership of findings and benefits of results sharing to science. Reasons for not sharing included concerns related to participants’ health literacy and participants’ lack of desire for results. Across all respondents who described barriers to results sharing, the majority described logistical barriers. Conclusions Study findings contribute to the literature by documenting researchers’ perspectives and experiences about sharing results with research participants, which can inform efforts to improve results sharing. Most respondents indicated that health research results should always be shared with participants, although the extent to which many respondents described barriers to results sharing as well as reported reasons not to share results suggests difficulties with a one-size-fits-all approach to improving results sharing