Mobile Value Added Services: A Business Growth Opportunity for Women Entrepreneurs

Examines the potential for mobile value-added services adoption by women entrepreneurs in Egypt, Nigeria, and Indonesia in expanding their micro businesses; challenges, such as access to digital channels; and the need for services tailored to women

Micro-finance in the India: the changing face of micro-credit Schemes

Micro-Finance is emerging as a powerful instrument for poverty alleviation in the new economy. In India, micro-Finance scene is dominated by Self Help Groups (SHGs) - Banks linkage Programme, aimed at providing a cost effective mechanism for providing financial services to the 'unreached poor'. In the Indian context terms like "small and marginal farmers", " rural artisans" and "economically weaker sections" have been used to broadly define micro-finance customers. Research across the globe has shown that, over time, microfinance clients increase their income and assets, increase the number of years of schooling their children receive, and improve the health and nutrition of their families A more refined model of micro-credit delivery has evolved lately, which emphasizes the combined delivery of financial services along with technical assistance, and agricultural business development services. When compared to the wider SHG bank linkage movement in India, private MFIs have had limited outreach. However, we have seen a recent trend of larger microfinance institutions transforming into Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFCs). This changing face of microfinance in India appears to be positive in terms of the ability of microfinance to attract more funds and therefore increase outreach. In overall terms an organizational structure will help them achieve more transparence and efficiencyMicrofinance; Microcredit; India;

Entrepreneurs Health and Productivity in Nigeria: Analysis of Microfinance Bank Contribution

This paper investigates the effects of microfinance bank health related services on micro and small enterprise owners’ productivity. Productivity is measured as output value over resource input value. The paper employed panel data and multiple regression analysis to analyze a survey of 502 randomly selected entrepreneurs whose enterprise are finance by microfinance banks in Nigeria. We find strong evidence that microfinance bank health related programmes have positive correlation with productivity of micro and small entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Participation in health related services such as health education and health finance are found to have positive impact on entrepreneurs’ productivity, while microfinance bank linkages with health services provider and entrepreneurs access to health product through microfinance bank are microfinance banks health related services that are yet to be developed well developed by the microfinance banks . The paper recommends that a well structured health seminar and training programmes should be embedded in all Microfinance programme to further enhance productivity of entrepreneurs in Nigeria and partner with Insurance Companies in the country to provide quality health insurance services affordable to MFBs’ client. This will guarantee the clients’ access the health services when the need arise

Services Offshoring and Wages: Evidence from Micro Data

This paper investigates the effects of services offshoring on wages using individual level data combined with industry information on offshoring. Our results show that services offshoring affects the real wage of low and medium skilled individuals negatively. By contrast, skilled workers benefit from services offshoring in terms of higher real wages. Hence, offshoring has contributed to a widening of the wage gap between skilled and less skilled workers. This result is obtained while controlling for individual and sectoral observed and unobserved heterogeneity. In particular, our empirical model also controls for the impact of technological change and offshoring of materials.services offshoring, individual wages

Creating Value Beyond Microfinance Through Entrepreneurship Development in Kenya

This article looks at current microfinance practices in Kenya and some of the inherent challenges that hinder human development of microfinance clients beyond accessing financial services. As microfinance providers and supporters continue to promote the importance of improving access to financial services amongst micro and small business owners, they will need to augment their microfinance services with basic entrepreneurial training.Entrepreneurship; Development; Microfinance; Microenterprise; Kenya

Financing Cities

The macro-economic and micro-economic evidences makes a persuasive case for cities as important centers for productive efficiency, innnovation, and economic growth. For cities to achieve their full economic potential, however, complementary public services are required. This paper reviews the arguments and the evidence for the efficient financing and governance of city public services. Against the criterion of efficiency, city services should be limited to those services valued by city residents; financing should assign residential taxes to residential services and business land taxes and fees to business services; and city governance should foster competition and choice.

Services Offshoring and Wages: Evidence from Micro Data

This paper investigates the effects of services offshoring on wages using individual level data combined with industry information on offshoring. Our results show that services offshoring affects the real wage of low and medium skilled individuals negatively. By contrast, skilled workers benefit from services offshoring in terms of higher real wages. Hence, offshoring has contributed to a widening of the wage gap between skilled and less skilled workers. This result is obtained while controlling for individual and sectoral observed and unobserved heterogeneity. In particular, our empirical model also controls for the impact of technological change and offshoring of materials.services offshoring, individual wages

Financial constraints, innovation performance, and sectoral disaggregation

How do the effects of financial constraints on innovation performance vary by sector and firm characteristics? This paper uses innovation survey data from eleven European countries to examine the heterogeneity of these effects. So far, there has been a lack of cross-country micro-level studies exploring the effects of financial constraints on innovation performance in Western Europe and only little research about the variability of such effects between the broad sectors of production and services. Our results suggest that the impact of direct measures of financial barriers differs in production and services sectors, and also by the firm’s export orientation. In particular, financial constraints appear to have more pronounced negative effects in the production sector than in the services sector. Among different types of firms, the response to financial constraints seems to be stronger for non-exporters