The Microfinance Revolution

Marguerite Robinson

Description

Around the world, a revolution is occurring in finance for low-income people. The microfinance revolution is delivering financial services to the economically active poor on a large scale through competing, financially self-sufficient institutions. In a few countries this has already happened; in others it is under way. The emerging microfinance industry has profound implications for social and economic development. For the first time in history, capital is well on its way to being democratized.
'The Microfinance Revolution', in three volumes, is aimed at a diverse readership - economists, bankers, policymakers, donors, and social scientists; microfinance practitioners and specialists in local finance and rural and urban development; and members of the general public interested in development. This first volume, 'Sustainable Finance for the Poor', focuses on the shift from government- and donor-subsidized credit systems to self-sufficient microfinance institutions providing voluntary savings and credit services.

Sujets

• Microfinance
• Informal sector
• Interest rate
• Poverty threshold
• Saving
• Access to finance
• Quality of life
• Grameen Bank
• Transaction cost
• Information needs
• Monopolistic competition
• Financial intermediary
• Poverty reduction
• Private sector development

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 01 juin 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 44
• EAN13: 9780821383384
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Microfinance
Revolution
Sustainable Finance for the Poor© 2001 by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/THE WORLD BANK
1818 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20433 USA
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing May 2001
The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this book are entirely those of the
author and should not be attributed in any manner to Open Society Institute or to the World
Bank, its affiliated organizations, or members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries
they represent
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robinson, Marguerite S., 1935–
The microfinance revolution: sustainable finance for the poor / Marguerite S. Robinson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0–8213–4524–9
1. Microfinance—Developing countries. 2. Microfinance. 3. Financial institutions—Develop-
ing countries. 4. Poor—Developing countries. I. Title.
HG178.33.D44 R63 2001
332.2—dc21
2001026146
Edited, designed, and laid out by Communications Development Incorporated, Washington,
D.C. and San Francisco, CaliforniaThe Microfinance
Revolution
Sustainable Finance for the Poor
Lessons from Indonesia
The Emerging Industry
Marguerite S. Robinson
The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Open Society Institute, New YorkPraise for The Microfinance Revolution
“Dr. Robinson has written a magnificent work that provides a jolt of energy as well as
wise guidance to the fledgling microfinance industry.This book will quickly become re-
quired reading for students and professionals in and around the microfinance industry,
for donors and government agencies, and for investors.This is also the first book that,
through thoughtful analysis, vivid images, and extensive research, will beckon commer-
cial bankers and the rest of the ‘real world’ to sit up and take interest in microfinance. It
will thus be a potent force in fusing the small scale, donor-driven microfinance of today
with the formal financial systems of tomorrow—systems that will provide high-quality
financial services on a permanent and ever increasing scale to millions of poor house-
holds around the world.”
—Elizabeth Littlefield, Chief Executive Officer, Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest; Director,
World Bank; and former Managing Director, JP Morgan
“The Microfinance Revolution is a magnificent contribution to the theory and practice
of international development. It is a much-needed wake-up call for economists who
have long pooh-poohed the potential of microfinance institutions for promoting sav-
ings and investment and alleviating poverty. Likewise, it will alert advocates of subsi-
dized microfinance that the financial needs of the vast majority of the poor can be
met by commercially based microlending.”
—David E. Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, Harvard
University
“Marguerite Robinson has produced a major work that will unquestionably lie at the
very center of microfinance literature for many years to come. Dr. Robinson is
uniquely qualified, having spent many years living in tiny villages as an anthropolo-
gist, seeing informal finance as it happens, and having spent many years advising top
policymakers on how to design effective financial services for the poor, most notably
in Indonesia with Bank Rakyat Indonesia projects. Her account of the paradigm shift
in microfinance is both exhaustively researched and provocative. She has a wonderful
ear for stories; her book is full of marvelous phrases, excerpts, and anecdotes from the
world of poor people’s finance, in addition to being a wellspring of quantitative doc-
umentation for the trends about which she writes. Highly recommended!”
—Robert Peck Christen, Senior Adviser, Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest;Academic
Director, Microfinance Training Program, Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado
“The Microfinance Revolution is an ambitious achievement that will be the definitive work
on microfinance now and for some time to come. In clear, convincing, and often el-
egant language, Marguerite Robinson gives us the fruits of her deep experience and
painstaking research.This book provides the most complete statement existing on how
microfinance arose, how it works, and why it matters. The Microfinance Revolution views
microfinance from the commercial or financial systems perspective. Robinson sets mi-
crofinance in its correct place as one important tool in the ‘poverty alleviation tool-
box.’ In so doing she dispels the fuzzy myths surrounding the image of microfinanceas a panacea for poverty. Every microfinance professional will want a copy of this work
as a comprehensive reference for the field. Every policymaker or donor will be remiss
if he or she makes decisions about microfinance without first internalizing Dr. Robin-
son’s messages.”
—Elisabeth Rhyne, Senior Vice President,ACCIÓN International; former Director, Office of Mi-
croenterprise Development, U.S.Agency for International Development; author, Mainstreaming
Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew and Came of Age in Bolivia
“The Microfinance Revolution is a tour de force remarkable both for the breadth of its
vision and for the wealth of experience it captures. Dr. Robinson folds page after page
of telling information about real people and their financial behavior, and about real
institutions and their achievements, into a vigorously argued—and sometimes con-
troversial—synthesis.Anyone interested in financial services for poor people should
read it.”
—Richard Rosenberg, Senior Adviser, Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest
“Marguerite Robinson’s book succeeds admirably in presenting and analyzing the fun-
damentals of microlending and mobilizing savings among the poor. In distilling the
essence of microfinance, Dr. Robinson demonstrates with extraordinary clarity that
the application of commercial principles to microfinance ensures the long-lasting ca-
pacity of institutions to reach those previously excluded from financial services.This
book combines the detailed, painstaking research of a noted scholar with the experi-
ences of successful microfinance institutions around the globe, and provides a view of
remarkable scope and exceptional weight. Dr. Robinson’s work is not only an essen-
tial contribution to our current understanding of microfinance, but also a key resource
for laying out the future of this field.”
—María Otero, President and Chief Executive Officer,ACCIÓN International
“If you read Finance at the Frontier, published in 1991, you should read The Microfinance
Revolution, published in 2001. If you did not read Finance at the Frontier and you seek
an authoritative source about microfinance, you should still read The Microfinance Rev-
olution.”
—J.D.Von Pischke, President, Frontier Finance International; author, Finance at the Frontier
“Marguerite Robinson has spent 20 years at the cutting edge of microfinance. In this
book Marguerite gives us a history lesson and a guide on how to build commercial
finance that fits the needs of the world’s poor majority. Policymakers, finance leaders,
and anyone who wants to join this revolution in banking must read this book.”
—Nancy M. Barry, President,Women’s World Banking
“In the past five years the enormous promise of access to capital as an effective tool
for the world’s poor has erupted into the world’s consciousness. But the facts have often
come intertwined with myth and legend, until oft-repeated misinformation threat-
ens today to debase the accomplishments of truth. In this fog Marguerite Robinson’s
book, The Microfinance Revolution, arrives as a beacon. In it she combines her exten-Praise for The Microfinance Revolution (continued)
sive first-hand experience, gained initially in Asia and then around the world, with the
intellectual rigor of the first-rate scholar she also is.The result is a rare, comprehen-
sive look at microfinance that is long on analysis and short on sound bites. By asking
the right questions and seeking the tough answers around the globe, she expands our
understanding even though we in the field might from time to time squirm in our
seats. In the process she has presented all of us who are seriously committed to the
field—practitioners, policymakers, academics, public servants, and most of all, the
poor of the world—a wonderful gift of intellect and expertise.”
—Michael Chu, Chair, Capital Markets; former President and Chief Executive Office,AC-
CIÓN International; former Chairman of the Board, BancoSol
“This book tells a long overdue story—that of commercial microfinance institutions. It
highlights the world’s most efficient rural microfinance institution, Bank Rakyat Indonesia’s
microbanking system. Marguerite Robinson provides extensive analysis of the remark-
able traits that have made microbanking at BRI an unprecedented success, detailing its
policies, creative mode of operations and incentives for clients and staff, and training pro-
grams