Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Microfinance – Developing countries – Evaluation'
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Huang, Guan. "Essays on microfinance repayment behaviour : an evaluation in developing countries." Thesis, University of Reading, 2018. http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/80633/.
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Microfinance research concerns addressed in this thesis relate to: the associations between the individual characteristics of borrowers and the probabilities of being in delinquent or default; the determinants for the financial awareness of interest repayment; and the application and comparison of modern missing data techniques (Multiple Imputation, Maximum Likelihood Estimation, and Predictive Mean Matching) with incomplete loan book data. The thesis emphasises credit scoring issues that affect repayment performance and revolves around three empirical chapters that seek to address the above research concerns. Survey and loan book data from individuals in 51 MFIs across 27 developing countries. The data were compiled by the MFIs and collected by Micro Finanza Rating. Varied micro-econometric techniques (ordinary least squares, Logit regression, Tobit regression, Two-Part model, Double-Hurdle model, Box-Cox transformation, and three missing data imputation methods: Multiple Imputation, Maximum Likelihood Estimation, and Predictive Mean Matching) are used depending on the hypotheses being considered in each chapter. The main findings are: engaging in agriculture is related to a lower probability of default that measured by the amount of arrear in general; besides, the association between agriculture and the length of delayed repayment is insignificant; previous access to micro-finance has positive association with the financial awareness of the clients who lived in urban areas; in addition, previous access to saving service has positive effect on the clients with at least primary education; when the missing microfinance data is semi-continuous, PMM outperforms MI and ML in most simulations; for binary or ordinal categorical data, PMM performance surpass MI and ML only when the sample sizes of data are large, the missing rates are low, and the missing mechanism is MAR. The thesis suggests the following recommendation both for management of MFIs and government, we need to: make financial services for poor farm households and farm-related business more attractive to the MFIs; financial awareness can be improved by access to microfinance services, hence extra learning programmes may be unnecessary; Two-Part Model should be applied to credit scoring; and PMM imputation is the best technique to be applied to deal with the missing data issues and improve data quality in microfinance.
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Sagbo, Nicaise S. M. "EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL LOANS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES – BENIN CASE STUDY." UKnowledge, 2019. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/agecon_etds/72.
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Limited access to financial services is known as a major constraint to agricultural development (FAO, 2002). Farmers need liquidity to face agricultural expenses throughout the production cycle but mainly at the beginning. Mainstream financial institutions are reluctant to serve the agricultural sector for several reasons. First, they consider the sector to be highly risky with low performance. Also, agricultural activities depend on the weather, they take place in remote rural areas, and commodities prices are volatile. All these aspects make it hard for standard banks to reach their profit goals when lending to farmers. Since microfinance was conceived, it has generated a lot of hope for alleviating poverty in low-income countries. Microfinance provides the poor with access to affordable capital by granting low-income individuals with loans they would not otherwise have access to, because of economic and geographic constraints.
The goal of the dissertation is to examine the role and the importance of microfinance in the agricultural sector of developing countries. A survey took place in October 2017, in both rural and urban areas of Benin and involved 750 agricultural households. Three different agricultural zones were selected: the North-East (cotton zone); the Center (tubers and cashew nut zone) and the South (a region with special crops such as vegetables, pineapple, palm tree, exotic plants). The study focuses on agricultural loans. It includes clients of the major microfinance institution in Benin: FECECAM - Faîtière des Caisses d’Epargne et de Crédit Agricole Mutuel.
This research contributes to the literature in several ways. The study allows shedding light on the effects of agricultural loans, specifically, on households’ efficiency and labor employment, which are mostly overlooked in the microfinance literature. To overcome selection bias in microcredit evaluation, the research employs a pipeline design. Control and treatment groups consist of individuals who have chosen to participate in the microfinance program. The loan treatment considered is the experience with loans which includes program entry timing, loan take-up frequency, and the average amount of loan obtained over the 2012-2017 period. The study employs a cluster analysis technique to create reliable comparable groups.
Multiple variables and indicators are analyzed. A descriptive analysis of loan impact on farmers’ labor input choices shows that past loans have residual effects on both hired and family labor use. Farm loans, especially those obtained for farm machinery significantly reduce expenditure on hired labor but more family labor is employed using machine loans while other loan categories reduced the use of family labor. The evaluation of the whole-farm efficiency of borrowers in the presence of agricultural loans reveals significant technical and allocative errors leading to profit loss in all studied regions. However, experience with loans significantly increases farmers’ whole-farm efficiency, particularly in the North. Finally, the assessment of well-being indicators suggests that those farm loans have a significant positive impact on sampled recipients’ net farm income, food security and food quality statuses. Agricultural loans also have a positive impact on women’s empowerment. The monitoring and implementation mechanism of FECECAM played a crucial role in the success of its loan programs.
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Darko, Francis Awuku. "Empirical analysis on microfinance institutions in developing countries." Thesis, University of Kent, 2016. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/59673/.
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This thesis contains three empirical essays which aim to contribute to economic research in the field of microfinance. Specifically, the first of these essays, presented in Chapter 2, examines the effect of commercialisation on efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Sub-Saharan Africa using Data Envelopment Analysis and truncated regression model. The analysis is performed on 273 MFIs in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2005 - 2011. It is shown that commercialisation has a positive effect on efficiency of MFIs. In the light of this finding, we uphold the view that commercialisation can bring some benefits to the microfinance industry. Chapter 3 reports the investigations of whether productivity growth in the microfinance industry are passed to microcredit clients in the form of lower interest rates, and whether the effect depends on the extent of competition in the industry, using a balanced panel data on 175 MFIs worldwide over the period 2005 - 2012. The study finds that the effect of productivity growth in reducing microcredit interest rates is greater for high levels of competition than for low levels of competition. Thus, the evidence suggests that microcredit clients can benefit from productivity growth in the form of lower interest rates as the microfinance industry increasingly becomes competitive. We therefore argue that productivity growth and competition should be encouraged in the microfinance industry. The third essay, presented in Chapter 4 considers the possibility of mission drift in microfinance; a situation whereby MFIs move away from targeting the poor towards better-off clients. Using two different measures of poverty, the chapter examines whether the location choices of MFIs in Uganda are consistent with the objective of extending financial services to the extreme poor; and whether the pattern observed varies across different types of MFIs. The analysis is conducted on 118 MFIs over the period 2009 - 2013, by adopting a static count data model and dynamic regression approach. The results point towards an interesting picture that is important to take into account in the debate on mission drift. We show that the location of branches of MFIs is initially correlated negatively with poverty, but this correlation disappears over time; suggesting that MFIs have a greater incentive to target richer districts during earlier years, but poorer districts tend to catch-up with time. Again, we show that Commercial Bank MFIs are more likely to increase their presence in poorer districts than do other types of MFIs. These results suggest that full-fledged commercially oriented MFIs can have a strong positive response to targeting poorer districts. The implication of these findings is that commercial microfinance could be pursued as a strategy to reach the unbanked segment of the world's poor population. Taken together the analysis presented in each of these three chapters appears to indicate that, contrary to the writing of some popular commentators, the cause of economic development may have little to fear and much to gain from the entrance of commercial MFIs. While this conclusion may surprise many development professional, it should not surprise the development economist that the very forces of competition appear to drive these findings. While it is quite possible that the MFI revolution could not have been set lose by the commercial sector, it certainly does appear that the market which they established is now a viable and flourishing area to do business. Just as importantly, fears that commercial lenders might not target the poorest, or could charge exploitative rates of interest, may have been overstated.
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Benitez, Mauricio Moron. "Assessment of corporate social responsibility within the stakeholder theory in commercial microfinance instittutions in Bolivia." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_9152_1256197189.
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Currently, some microfinance institutions in Bolivia are adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a concept whereby sompanies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and publish the results. CSR is applied mostly by big companies in the North and in sectors more in the eye of the public, such as oil production or textile and apparel. Bolivia has been the pioneer in the commercialization of microfinance through microfinance NGO transformations. The objectives of this investigation was to asses and compare the reasons why the selected Bolivian commercial MFI's were engaged, or not engaged, in CSR. Secondly, to determine which stakeholders are more relevant for each MFI analysed, assessing how they influenced the decision to adopt or not adopt CSR and thirdly, to compare the current social performance of the selected MFI's within the framework of corporate social responsibility.
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Srivastava, Tripti. "Microfinance: A Comparative Analysis of Varying Contexts, Current Needs, and Future Prospects between Developing and Developed Countries." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1288558199.
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Casini, Paolo. "The industrial organization of financial services in developing and developed countries." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/210176.
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In the first part of the thesis I focus on credit markets in developing countries, and describe the competitive interaction between Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). Microfinance has recently attracted a lot of attention from investors, politicians, scholars and, most of all, people working on development. As a results, a huge number of MFIs are being created all over the world so that, as of today, practitioners reckon that about 100 millions of customers are being served. Remarkably, about 67% of them are women.
The reason of this extraordinary effort is that Microfinance is considered the most promising development tool currently available. This belief is based on two important features of Microfinance: (i) It promises to be financially viable (and in some cases even profitable) since poor people have proven to be reliable clients. As a result, Microfinance is potentially a zero-cost development tool. (ii) It hinges on the entrepreneurial abilities of the poor. It is designed to help the poor to help themselves, in their own home countries, by allowing them to use their skills, ideas and potentials. This should progressively make developing countries independent of rich ones' help.
The growth of Microfinance has been so fast that many issues and related research questions are still not answered. In my thesis I try to address one of them, that I believe particularly important: the increase of competition between MFIs. As economic theory predicts, competition can have dramatic consequences in terms of borrower welfare, profitability of the institutions and, therefore, on the attractiveness of the business for potential investors, donors and entrants. I use the tools of industrial organization and contract theory to understand these effects, measure them, and give some interesting policy advice.
In the first paper, I analyze the effects of entry of a new MFI in a previously monopolistic microcredit market. In order to catch the salient features of financial markets in developing countries, I use a model of asymmetric information and assume that institutions can offer only one type of contract. I consider different behavioral assumptions for the MFIs and study their influence on equilibrium predictions. The model allows showing that competition can lead to equilibria in which MFIs differentiate their contracts in order to screen borrowers. This process can, unfortunately, make the poor borrowers worse off. Interestingly, the screening process we describe creates a previously unexplored source of credit rationing. I also prove that the presence in the market of an altruistic MFI, reduces rationing and, via this channel, affects positively the competitor's profit.
In the second paper, I study the effects of competition in those markets in which, due to the absence of credit bureaus, small entrepreneurs can simultaneously borrow from more than one institution. As in the first paper, I analyze an oligopolistic microcredit market characterized by asymmetric information and institutions that can offer only one type of contract. The main contribution is to show that appropriate contract design can eliminate the ex-ante incentives for multiple borrowing. Moreover, when the market is still largely unserved and particularly risky, a screening strategy leading to con-
tract differentiation and credit rationing is unambiguously the most effective to avoid multiple borrowing. The result of this paper can also be read as important robustness checks of the findings of my first paper.
In the last part of the thesis, I depart from the analysis of developing countries to consider, more generally, the corporate governance of financial infrastructures. The efficient functioning of financial markets relies more and more on the presence of infrastructures providing services like clearing, settlement, messaging and many others. The last years have been characterized by interesting dynamics in the ownership regime of these service providers. Both mutualizations and de-mutualizations took place, together with entry and exit of different players.
Starting from this observation, in the last paper (with Joachim Keller), we analyze the effects of competitive interaction between differently owned financial providers. We mainly focus on the incentives to invest in safety enhancing measures and we describe the different equilibrium market configurations. We use a model in which agents need an input service for the financial market they operate in. They can decide whether to provide it them selves by forming a Cooperative or outsource it from a Third Party Provider. We prove that the co-existence of differently governed infrastructures leads to a significant reduction in the investment in safety. In most cases, monopolistic provision is preferable to competition. Moreover, the decision rule used within the Cooperative plays a central role in determining the optimal market configuration.
All in all, throughout my thesis, I use the tools of industrial organization and contract theory to model the competitive interaction of the different actors operating in financial markets. Understanding the dynamics typical of developing countries can help in gaining a deeper comprehension of the markets in richer countries, and vice-versa. I am convinced that analyzing the differences and the similarities of financial markets in different regions of the world can be of great importance for economic theorists, in that it provides a counterfactual for the assumptions and the results on which our predictions and policy advices are based.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Banto, Jean michel. "Microfinance, growth and monetary policy : an empirical analysis using panel data from developing countries." Thesis, Université Paris-Saclay (ComUE), 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019SACLE019.
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Tout d'abord, cette thèse examine les relations d'une part entre la politique monétaire et la microfinance et d'autre part celles liées à la croissance économique et le secteur de la microfinance. Nos résultats montrent dans le premier cas que les taux des institutions de microfinance (IMF) à vocation non commerciale sont moins sensibles à la politique monétaire contrairement à ceux des IMF à vocation commerciale. Ce résultat peut s'expliquer par la possibilité des IMF à vocation commerciale à avoir un accès plus important au financement bancaire contrairement aux IMF à vocation non commerciale. Quant au deuxième cas, nous trouvons que la microfinance affecte la croissance économique à travers les canaux de transmission que sont la consommation et l'investissement. Ensuite, nous avons analysé l'impact des indicateurs de gouvernance notamment le nombre de personnes au conseil d'administration, le statut juridique et les ratios de prudentielles sur les performances financières et sociales des IMF dans un premier temps et dans un second temps nous examinons l'effet de la structure du capital sur l'activité de microcrédit à court, moyen et long terme. En ce qui concerne la gouvernance, nous trouvons que les IMF ayant le statut de « société anonyme » dégagent des marges bénéficiaires plus importantes que les institutions mutualiste et coopérative d'épargne et de crédit (IMCEC). Quant aux travaux sur la structure du capital, nous remarquons que les prêts aux populations à faibles revenus sont refinancés par les emprunts bancaires dont la conséquence est le renchérissement du taux prêteur. Enfin, nous constatons que les IMF qui se refinancent par les dépôts ont une activité de prêt plus importante que celles qui se refinancent par des emprunts bancairesFirstly, this thesis examines the relationships between monetary policy and microfinance on the one hand and economic growth and the microfinance sector on the other. Our results show in the first case that the rates of non-commercial microfinance institutions (MFIs) are less sensitive to monetary policy than those of commercial MFIs. This result can be explained by the possibility that commercial MFIs have greater access to bank financing than non-commercial MFIs. As for the second case, we find that microfinance affects economic growth through the transmission channels of consumption and investment. Then, we analyzed the impact of governance indicators such as the number of people on the board of directors, legal status and prudential ratios on the financial and social performance of MFIs first and then we examine the effect of capital structure on microcredit activity in the short, medium and long term. With regard to governance, we find that MFIs with "public limited company" status generate higher profit margins than mutual and cooperative savings and credit institutions (IMCEC). As for the work on the capital structure, we note that loans to low-income populations are refinanced by bank loans, the consequence of which is the increase in the lending rate. Finally, we note that MFIs that refinance themselves through deposits have a higher lending activity than those that refinance themselves through bank loans
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Sirirangsi, Rangsima. "Population Policy Implementation and Evaluation in Less Industrialized Countries." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1993. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279258/.
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This study emphasizes the impact of family planning program components on contraceptive prevalence in less industrialized countries. Building on Lapham and Mauldin's "Program Effort and Fertility Decline" framework and policy evaluation's theory, the author developed two models to examine the impact of family planning programs on contraceptive prevalence and fertility under the constraints of socioeconomic development and demand for family planning. The study employed path analysis and multiple regression on data from the 1982 program effort study in 94 less developed countries (LDCs) by Lapham and Mauldin and 98 LDCs of the 1989 program effort study by Mauldin and Ross. The results of data analyses for all data sets are consistent for the most part. Major findings are as follows: (1) A combination of program effort and socioeconomic development best explains the variation of contraceptive prevalence. (2) Among socioeconomic variables, female literacy exerts the strongest direct and indirect influences to increase contraceptive prevalence and indirect influence to decrease total fertility rate. (3) Christianity performs a significant role in reducing contraceptive prevalence. (4) Among program effort components, availability and accessibility for fertility-control supplies and services have the most influence on contraceptive prevalence. (5) When controlling for demand for family planning, female literacy and Christianity have expected and significant relationships with contraceptive prevalence. Availability and accessibility to fertility-control supplies and services exerts a positive and statistically significant impact on contraceptive prevalence. Demand for family planning has a positive and statistically significant effect on program variables, availability, and contraceptive prevalence. (6) There is a strong inverse relationship between contraceptive use and fertility. Demand for family planning, program effort, and socioeconomic development influence fertility through contraceptive prevalence. The findings of this study suggest that governments in LDCs should give priorities to increasing female education and availability of contraception to effectively reduce fertility.
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Bondinuba, Francis Kwesi. "The role of microfinance as an innovative strategy for low-income housing delivery in developing countries." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/3306.
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One of the greatest challenges faced by post-independence Developing Countries (DCs) is an immerse backlog, shortages and unsatisfactory conditions of housing for the poverty-stricken and lowest socioeconomic groups of their population. Governments and their development partners have previously embarked on many ambitious housing programmes by engaging in mass delivery of urban housing in fulfilment of the vision of adequate housing for all as reflected in many international housing policy frameworks. However, over a million of the lowest socioeconomic groups in DCs are still living in housing poverty. This is as a result of rapid urbanisation outpacing the effectiveness of most housing policies. Moreover, rapid urbanisation has led to lack of employment and lack of access to low-income housing finance among low-income groups to meet their housing needs. To address such challenges requires alternatives and innovative financial mechanisms such as Housing microfinance (HMF). Moreover, despite many microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating worldwide, there are only a few that operate within the low-income housing market. There is also little evidence in the literature about the role and motivations of such institution's involvement in the provision of HMF to low-income groups, particularly in Ghana. This study investigated the role of microfinance as an innovative strategy and modelled the motivations behind MFIs intention to enter the low-income housing market. The primary aim of the study was to explore the role of microfinance as an innovative strategy and the motivation behind MFIs’ and individuals in low-income group’s’ intentions to supply or demand HMF in Ghana. The study adopts a mixed method research approach involving in-depth interviews with three Housing Microfinance Institutions and focus group discussions with 36 low-income groups in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions in Ghana. A total of 200 survey questionnaires were also distributed to MFIs of which 135 questionnaires were returned, and 125 were usable. The qualitative data was analysed using Nvivo Version 10. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22 and Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) Version 3.0 Software were also used to analyse the quantitative data. A model of MFIs’ intention to enter the low-income housing market was subsequently developed and analysed. The results show that existing Housing Microfinance Institutions motivations are the social, economic and sustainability incentives for being in the low-income housing market. It further emerged that risks and appetite for profit are the strongest demotivating and motivating factors that can deter or attract new MFIs into the low-income housing market. The provision of construction and technical assistance as part of HMF packages will serve as a moderating factor between both demotivating and motivating factors. The barriers and constraints in the supply and demand for HMF include indigenous, industry capacity, credit and managerial, economic and finance issues, low-income and stringent HMF eligibility requirements. On the other hand, the risk factors identified were behavioural and relationship, economic and financial issues. Others are lack of institutional and regulatory framework, collateral and security issues, socio-cultural and construction risks. Furthermore, low-income groups are motivated to use HMF for new construction and land acquisition due to their desire for individual home ownership rather than renting. The model of intention shows that the motivating factors were more significant in predicting intention than the demotivating and moderating factors. However, together with their latent variables and factors, they explained 45% of MFIs intention to enter the low-income housing market in Ghana. The study, therefore, recommends the establishment of a national housing authority and a separate supportive and financially inclusive regulatory environment for HMF delivery. The development of any HMF programmes by the government, donor partners and MFIs should take into account the motivations behind the decisions of those in low-income groups to use HMF, rather than their effective demand for housing. Housing Microfinance Institutions should be more efficient, innovative, sustainable and viable by making their products simple, accessible and transparent. Furthermore, the future of the low-income housing market in DCs should be responsive to the 12-factor model of intention, and especially the demotivating factors vis-a-vis those from the low-income groups’ perspectives. The study provides stakeholders in the two sectors with a set of prioritised factors for making rational decisions concerning the supply and demand for HMF to low-income groups to meet their housing needs. The study demonstrates the role and usefulness of HMF and the motivations behind MFIs’ and low-income groups’ intentions to supply or demand HMF in Ghana. It has uncovered the barriers and risks associated with the provision or demand of HMF in a developing country context. Moreover, it has also re-contextualised the Push-Pull-Mooring model of human migration in a new context of demotivating-motivating-moderating factors. Hence, the study offers a foundation for other researchers to use as a follow-up for future research. Notwithstanding, further studies are required to investigate and establish the varying levels and segmentation needs of both markets.
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Almotairi, Mohammad A. T. "Evaluation of the implementation of CRM in developing countries." Thesis, Brunel University, 2010. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/4438.
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Managing relations with customers has been a main concern for business organisations from different sizes and fields. Such a concern has grown rapidly in the last few decades for a number of reasons such as the development of new technologies especially in the field of information technology (IT). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a newly emerged concept in the fields of IT and business that aims to strengthen the relationships between an organisation and its customers. Despite the promising expectations of implementing such a concept by many organisations, a significant number of CRM projects fail or result in disappointing outcomes that fall far short of expectations. This motivated researchers and practitioners to study the sources of failure and the factors of success in CRM implementation. Although CRM existed first in western organisations, it has spread almost all over the world as an increasing number of firms are implementing or planning to implement CRM. This research designed an integrated framework for investigating and evaluating the implementation of CRM in developing countries. The design of this framework was based on previous studies in the field of CRM implementation especially in the area of studying CRM success and failure. It is also based on the common sense and knowledge of the researcher in the field of CRM. To help identify successful implementation of CRM and to provide organisations with a guide to implement CRM projects, the research reviewed and organised the literature on CRM success and failure as well as the previous studies in CRM frameworks. Subsequently, the research designed a framework for CRM implementation that integrates CRM implementation phases/stages, CRM components, and CRM success factors. To assess the feasibility of the framework in developing countries, the research developed in-depth case study methodology that focused on two large communication companies which operate in Saudi Arabia and are implementing CRM projects fully and partially. The questions of the case study were developed to assess the feasibility of the framework based on the comparison between the conceptual framework and the practical implementation of CRM by the case companies, and the case study protocol was developed accordingly. Data was collected through multiple sources such as in-depth interviews, observations, documentations and archival records. The results of the case study support the feasibility of the framework in implementing CRM in general. The assessment stage was highly supported by the results. In addition, the success factors and their importance in implementing CRM were supported by the results with variation of importance of the success factors. However, cultural issues were significant to the CRM implementation and required modification to the framework to be more effective when implemented in developing countries.
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Daowd, Ahmad. "The impact of social media on the performance of microfinance institutions in developing countries : a quantitative approach." Thesis, Brunel University, 2016. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/14819.
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Over the last few decades, microfinance industry has played an essential role in alleviating poverty level and helping the underprivileged, by enabling access to myriads of financial services. Statistics from the World Bank reveals that, currently, only 4% of the underprivileged were served out of the 3 billion potential clients. Such results were due to several claims, particularly the operational and financial challenges faced by the MFIs in the constant flux, inviting more attentions towards its performance. While explicit focuses were given by many researchers towards mobile banking and Information Communication Technology (ICT) and online services in improving the MFIs performance, the study on how Social Media, as a rapidly growing online phenomenon, could affect the MFIs performance remain scarce. Hence, this study was aimed at investigating and clarifying the impact of social media on MFIs, based on four dimensional performance indicators: efficiency, financial sustainability, portfolio quality, and outreach. A model was developed utilising Resource Based-View (RBV) Theory, to test the relationship between social media application and organisational performance. A quantitative approach has been adopted employing from web-based questionnaires, to collect data from MFIs employees in developing countries such as Kenya, India and Jordan. Structured Equation Modelling (SEM) technique (i.e. SPSS and AMOS 20 software) was used as a tool to analyse the responses. Results revealed a significant influence of the social media over the MFIs performance, offering valuable insights to both researchers and practitioners in the domain of micro-finance, as well as social media – conforming that the adoption of social media as marketing, advertising and communication tools could significantly improve the MFIs performance. Keywords: Microfinance, Microfinance Institution Performance, Social Media, Resource Based View Theory.
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Halloluwa, Halloluwa Kankanamalage Thilina C. "Human money interaction: Designing for personal finances in the developing countries." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2019. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/129131/1/Halloluwa%20Kankanamalage%20Thilina_Halloluwa_Thesis.pdf.
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This study focuses on designing user-driven applications to provide an engaging experience around personal finances for rural Sri Lankan communities. It employs two diverse design cases to explore how to design for personal finances through an experience focused HCI perspective. The first case involved working around the practices related to microfinance while the second case explored aspects pertaining to financial literacy. The findings suggest that since current practices of these communities are strongly attuned with their everyday lives and those practices shape the use of technology, the designs should fit meaningfully with the local traditions to guarantee sustained use.
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Bai, Xue. "Evaluation and suggestions on EU development assistance policy." Thesis, University of Macau, 2012. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2595841.
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Metzler, Johannes. "Essays on Econometric Evaluation of Education Outcomes in Developing Countries." Diss., lmu, 2009. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:19-95623.
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Kurkova, Angelina. "Evaluation of HSE practices at construction sites in developing countries." Thesis, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskaplige Universitet, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-21092.
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The main objective of this master’s work was to investigate whether the HSE initiatives developed by the company are suitable for achieving good safety results at construction sites in contractual environment in developing countries. This has been conducted by evaluating these HSE initiatives implemented by the Principle Contractor at one of company’s construction projects. The project is executed to build a run-of-the-river hydropower plant in the chain of the Andes in Peru. The evaluated HSE initiatives were safety inspections, Job Safety Analysis and reporting of unwanted occurrences at site.The evaluation was conducted through analysis of the implementation of HSE initiatives and their immediate and long-term effects. HSE initiatives were checked to see if they had been implemented as planned and according to the best industry practices in construction safety in developing countries. The immediate effects of HSE initiatives were analysed to assess the quality of implementation of HSE initiatives and their contribution to achieving the good safety result at the project. The long-term effects were evaluated scrutinising a trend in injury rates, actual visual compliance at site and adequacy of safety climate at the project. The results of the evaluation showed that safety inspections and reporting of unwanted occurrences have been implemented by Principle Contractor according to company’s HSE requirements and the best industry practices. The implemented Job Safety Analysis routines did not satisfy company’s HSE requirements. The evaluation showed that the achieved immediate effect of HSE activities is not satisfactory due to the delay with execution of remedial actions; moreover, the potential functionality of Job Safety Analysis and reporting of unwanted occurrences was not fully used at the project. The long-term effect of the evaluated HSE activities was assessed as satisfactory. This was concluded based on that the measurement of safety climate has given a positive result, while a trend of the injury rate and the measurement of visual compliance to national safety regulations and international standards deviated from a desirable results. The results of the evaluation were considered in the light of different internal and external factors which might influence implementation of HSE initiatives and overall safety at the project. The difficulties with the implementation of Job Safety Analysis can be partially explained by a low level of professional and safety education and consequently low demands to workplace safety by workers due to the current economic situation in the country. In addition, a strong hierarchy, typical for the national culture of this country, hindered a proper cooperation between supervisors and workers for execution of Job Safety Analysis. Further, contractor’s general management did not allocate an HSE responsibility on supervisors and did not demonstrate importance of safety at the project. This also affected immediate and long-terms effects of Job Safety analysis, safety inspections and reporting of unwanted occurrences. The difficulties to achieve a positive immediate effect can be attributed mainly to lack of contractor’s general management support in execution of remedial actions and human factors such as workers’ and supervisors’ level of education, religiousness and their attitude to risk-taking. The satisfactory long-term effect can be explained by a proper implementation of company’s HSE requirements, effective work of contractor’s HSE department and compliance to strong HSE requirements from International Finance Corporation which provided a loan to the company for the project execution. Therefore, it was concluded that company’s approach of using the contract to implement its Policy on HSE in developing countries through HSE requirements to contractors is effective when it comes to long-term effects on safety at the projects, but strongly affected by economic situation, national culture, contractor’s general management attitude to safety and human factors.
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Hasan, Layla. "Usability evaluation framework for e-commerce websites in developing countries." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2009. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/5647.
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The importance of evaluating the usability of e-commerce websites is well recognised and this area has attracted research attention for more than a decade. Nearly all the studies that evaluated the usability of e-commerce websites employed either user-based (i.e. user testing) or evaluator-based (i.e. heuristic evaluation) usability evaluation methods; but no research has employed softwarebased (i.e. Google Analytics software) in the evaluation of such sites. Furthermore, the studies which employed user testing and/or heuristic evaluation methods in the evaluation of the usability of e-commerce websites did not offer detail about the benefits and drawbacks of these methods with respect to the identification of specific types of usability problems. This research developed a methodological framework for the usability evaluation of e-commerce websites which involved user testing and heuristic evaluation methods together with Google Analytics software. The framework was developed by comparing the benefits and drawbacks of these methods in terms of the specific areas of usability problems that they could or could not identify on ecommerce websites. The framework involves Google Analytics software as a preliminary step to provide a quick, easy and cheap indication of general potential usability problem areas on an e-commerce website and its specific pages. Then, the framework enables evaluators to choose other methods to provide in-depth detail about specific iv problems on the site. For instance, the framework suggests that user testing is good for identifying specific major usability problems related to four areas: navigation, design, the purchasing process and accessibility and customer service, while the heuristic evaluation is good for identifying a large number of specific minor usability problems related to eight areas including: navigation, internal search, the site architecture, the content, the design, accessibility and customer service, inconsistency and missing capabilities. The framework also suggests that the heuristic evaluation is good at identifying major security and privacy problems. The framework was developed based on an extensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the three methods in identifying specific usability problems in three case studies (e-commerce websites) in Jordan. This highlighted the usefulness of the methods and therefore helps e-commerce retailers to determine the usability method that best matches their needs. The framework was tested and the results indicated the usefulness of the suggested framework in raising awareness of usability and usability evaluation methods among e-commerce retailers in Jordan. This will help them address usability in the design of their websites, thus helping them to survive, grow and achieve success.
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Pears, A. "Aspects of the evaluation of specific training for developing countries." Thesis, University of Bristol, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.356229.
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Coulibaly, Aïssata. "Essays on financial development and vulnerability in employment in developing countries." Thesis, Université Clermont Auvergne (2017-2020), 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017CLFAD001/document.
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Cette thèse s’intéresse aux effets macroéconomiques du développement financier sur la vulnérabilité dans l’emploi dans les pays émergeants et en développement. Dans le premier chapitre, nous montrons que l’accès au crédit et les inégalités de revenu augmentent le travail des enfants surtout dans les pays à forte inégalité ou à faible revenu. Ce résultat indique que les parents tendent à investir leur crédit dans des projets qui accroissent le coût d’opportunité de l’éducation et le bénéfice attendu du travail des enfants. Ainsi, nous démontrons qu’un meilleur contrôle de la corruption permet d’améliorer l’efficacité du développement financier ainsi que des dépenses d’éducation en vue de réduire le travail des enfants. Cela passe notamment par une amélioration de la qualité de l’éducation. Dans le second chapitre, nous démontrons qu’un meilleur accès aux services financiers ainsi qu’une réduction des contraintes en termes d’utilisation de ces produits réduit la proportion de travailleurs pauvres. Cet effet est plus important en cas d’instabilité macroéconomique. De plus, ce meilleur accès bénéficie également aux non pauvres qui étaient précédemment exclus, ces derniers étant plus à même d’investir et de réduire indirectement la proportion de travailleurs pauvres via une croissance plus forte. Les résultats du troisième chapitre suggèrent qu’aussi bien le développement financier et les transferts de fonds des migrants peuvent limiter la prolifération du secteur informel. Cependant, ils tendent à être substituts, avec notamment un faible niveau de développement financier initial qui est compensé par l’utilisation des transferts de fonds. Finalement dans le chapitre 4, nous passons en revue des produits financiers flexibles et innovants qui pourraient permettre aux plus vulnérables de mieux faire face aux chocs. Nos résultats suggèrent que ces produits doivent être conçus de manière à offrir dans un premier temps des produits d’épargne en supprimant notamment les frais d’ouverture de compte. Leur utilisation devrait permettre de produire de l’information sur les emprunteurs notamment sur la base de l’historique des versements et leur fréquence. Ainsi en cas de choc, l’épargne accumulée peut servir de garantie pour le prêt complété si nécessaire par des produits d’assurance. Le « mobile banking » peut également servir pour la diffusion des produits flexibles et dans une plus large mesure de support pour accroître le niveau de bancarisation, vu le nombre croissant de personnes utilisant le téléphone portableThis thesis explored the macroeconomic effects of financial development on the most vulnerable workers in developing and emerging countries. Chapter one focuses on child labor. Our results suggest that child labor is positively associated to financial development and inequality particularly in countries with high level of income inequalities and low level of income. In fact, with access to credit, households tend to invest in productive activities which increase the opportunity cost of education and the returns from child labor. Hence, we demonstrate that a better control of corruption makes financial development as well as education spending more effective in reducing child labor by improving education quality. In the second chapter, we show that more bank branches and limiting barriers to use financial services reduce the proportion of working poor. This result is more relevant in countries hit by macroeconomic shocks and a better access to financial services also benefits to the excluded non-poor who can in turn invest and reduce poverty. In the third chapter, we find that both financial development and remittances tend to reduce the spread of the shadow economy by channelling funds to the more productive activities. Moreover, they tend to be substitutes, indicating that households rely on remittances in countries with low level of financial development. Finally, chapter four reviews innovative flexible financial products which can be used to help the more vulnerable to manage shocks. Our results suggest that, first barriers to open saving and checking accounts (like opening fees) need to be suppressed in order to increase the use of these services, generating more information on potential borrowers on the basis of the history and frequency of payments. Then, accumulated savings can be used as collateral for loan supplemented by insurance services. Mobile banking could also serve as support for flexible financial services.Keywords: Financial development, financial services; child labor, decent work, vulnerability, informal sector shadow economy, underground economy, institutions, inequality, working poverty, developing countries, trickle-down effect, remittances, microfinance, flexibility, discipline, risk, shocks, index-based insurance, combined products
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Arruda, J. B. F. "Evaluation of urban transport projects in developing countries : an accessibility approach." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.526750.
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Graziani, Garcia Meldin R. "Eliminating the glass ceiling how micro-financing empowers women and alleviates the effects of poverty in developing countries." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2011. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4904.
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It is widely accepted as fact that the creation of a stable financial system is the catalyst which facilitates economic development and prosperity. However, developing countries which embark on a path of change often forget the cardinal rule: addressing the needs of those who suffer from poverty, inequality, and political strife. In other words, change starts from the ground up; not the other way around. First among the challenges facing these countries, is the need to change the lending rules followed by traditional financial institutions--banks and other private lenders--who are unwilling to provide their services to individuals with little income and few if any assets that can be used as collateral. Second, global organizations like the United Nations, World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund have failed to provide aid in a way that forces the creation of positive and sustainable change for fragile and destabilized societies. For this reason, many developing countries which receive financial aid are no better off than they were before the interventions occurred, and in some cases worse. Finally, other aid programs and even well-intentioned government efforts to reduce poverty fail simply because they are misguided. Too much attention and financial resources are devoted to grand schemes of long-term duration and not enough is given to impacting human lives in the present. In 1973, visionary economist Muhammud Yunus witnessed his beloved country of Bangladesh sinking into the deepest realms of poverty; much of its population in despair and left without hope of extricating itself from a bleak existence. The problem was compounded by the fact that its government was preoccupied with matters of State rather than those of its people; its financial institutions were oblivious to the pain and hunger which surrounded them, and international donors were simply giving away money without any form of control or direct involvement.; Out of this scenario, Yunus started with an idea that would alter not only his life, but the lives of people in Bangladesh and the world over: micro-finance. To this day, nearly every text written on the subject calls micro-finance a weapon in the fight against global poverty, but only a mere few recognize just how much of the gains made in this "fight" are attributable to the direct involvement of women in micro-financing. This thesis posits that while Muhammud Yunus created an idea for the benefit of "the global poor", it actually became a medium for the empowerment of women around the world. In fact, much of the praise awarded to micro-finance as success omit recognition of what should be obvious: the driving force behind the success of micro-lending is (poor) women. This statement does not seek to diminish the merits of an idea which has put a significant mark on the global economy, or to ignore the accomplishments of millions of men who through hard work have overcome poverty. However, what began as a genderless effort to help the poor of Bangladesh soon changed to one that overwhelmingly favored women. To this day, lending primarily to women has become the modus operandi of the microfinance industry for one reason above all: because women have proven they are a good business risk. The first part of this thesis will analyze the birth and development of the micro-financing system with special emphasis on its creator, Muhammed Yunus and the financial institution he founded for the purpose of implementing his idea, Grameen Bank. The second part will review the growth of micro-financing across the world with focus on Kiva, a web-based organization which represents the melding of micro-finance with 21st century technology. Finally, the thesis will look at Pro Mujer, a micro-financing organization which has successfully operated in Latin America for the last 20 years and developed a niche that expands the horizons of empowerment.ID: 029808766; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-113).
M.A.
Masters
Political Science
Sciences
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Isoto, Rosemary Emegu. "Essays on Human Capital Investments and Microfinance in East African Agriculture." The Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1437652454.
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Moreno, Serra Rodrigo Antonio. "Econometric evaluation of health care programmes and policiesin developing and transition countries." Thesis, University of York, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.507941.
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Bellon, Fotis. "The advantages and disadvantages of microcredit: The case of Chile." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2014. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-196995.
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The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the debate on microfinance commercialization, using the case of Chile. Another purpose of this thesis consists in mapping the field of microfinance in Chile. The hypothesis that is examined in this study is whether the commercialization of microfinance in Chile has brought opportunities and trade-offs with respect to poverty alleviation in the country. The methodology used in order to gain understanding of several aspects of commercialization of the microfinance sector in Chile is descriptive statistics accompanied by a qualitative analysis of the demand side of microfinance. To this end, interviews were conducted with several microfinance institutions and specialists. The results of the study indicate that the commercialization of microfinance in Chile has indeed brought opportunities and trade-offs with respect to poverty alleviation in Chile. Two opportunities that this study defines, are the increase in the scale of outreach and the increase of geographical outreach. Secondly, in contrast to these opportunities, a tendency for the commercialized microfinance institutions to pay less attention to the poorest segment of the Chilean population, is defined as a trade-off of the commercialization of microfinance.
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Gobien, Simone [Verfasser], and Michael [Akademischer Betreuer] Kirk. "Land Matters. An Impact Evaluation in Developing Countries / Simone Gobien. Betreuer: Michael Kirk." Marburg : Philipps-Universität Marburg, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1074639537/34.
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Singh, Abhijeet. "Essays on human capital formation in developing countries." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:25d55dd1-464e-497b-952c-5b456036dc5d.
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This thesis consists of a short introduction and three self-contained analytical chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the question of learning gaps and divergence in achievement across countries. I use unique child-level panel data from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam to ask at what ages do gaps between different populations emerge, how they increase or decline over time, and what the proximate determinants of this divergence are. I document that learning gaps between the four countries are already evident at the age of 5 years and grow throughout the age trajectory of children, preserving country ranks from 5 to 15 years of age. At primary school age, the divergence between Vietnam and the other countries is largely accounted for by substantially greater learning gains per year of schooling. Chapter 2 focuses on learning differences between private and government school students in India. I present the first value-added models of learning production in private and government schools in this context, using panel data from Andhra Pradesh. I examine the heterogeneity in private school value-added across different subjects, urban and rural areas, medium of instruction, and across age groups. Further, I also estimate private school effects on children's self-efficacy and agency. I find modest or insignificant causal effects of attending private schools in most test domains other than English and on children's academic self-concept and agency. Results on comparable test domains and age groups correspond closely with, and further extend, estimates from a parallel experimental evaluation. Chapter 3 uses panel data from the state of Andhra Pradesh in India to estimate the impact of the introduction of a national midday meal program on anthropometric z-scores of primary school students, and investigates whether the program ameliorated the deterioration of health in young children caused by a severe drought. Correcting for self-selection into the program using a non-linearity in how age affects the probability of enrollment, we find that the program acted as a safety net for children, providing large and significant health gains for children whose families suffered from drought.
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Harvey, Stephen Paul. "Primary science InSET in South Africa : an evaluation of classroom support." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.388597.
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Billings, Richard. "An evaluation of the relative importance of technical and non- technical factors which affect water and sanitation projects in developing countries." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/44109.
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Technical factors, such as engineering and medical approaches, and non-technical factors, such as education and community participation, were evaluated with regard to how they affect water and sanitation programs. Benefits and limitations of each factor were assessed to determine which limitations significantly impact the effectiveness of programs. With this appreciation of technical and nontechnical factors, case studies of control methods of different diseases were evaluated. This led to recommendations of appropriate mixes of technical and non-technical services for disease control. This evaluation was utilized to develop a planning approach to effectively integrate interagency efforts for the control of multiple diseases.Master of Science
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Omar, A. A. "An evaluation of low income housing project in developing countries case study : Tripoli-Libya." Thesis, University of Salford, 2003. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/14847/.
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During the last few decades most developing countries have experienced a rapid growth in population which has resulted in a rapid urbanisation in the form of an expansion of existing towns, coupled with an increasing dependence upon developed countries for implementation of new housing programmes. The purpose of this study is to point out the problems of public housing, to identify the relationships between the physical elements and conceptual perspectives of housing functions. To resolve the housing problems, the Libyan government introduced a new policy, which recognised housing as a basic human need and provision of housing as the governments' fundamental responsibility. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the public housing policy in Tripoli, the capital city of Libya. To achieve this aim both secondary and primary data were examined, and the required data was obtained through a questionnaire survey of households living in the three projects. Interviews were also conducted amongst government officials concerned with housing policy and implementation. This study is in general, concerned with the effects of the problems of the new social and physical environments on the residents' level of satisfaction with the housing projects. This study is mainly concerned with aspects of housing policy which might contribute to better housing satisfaction and which are responsive to changes in people's desires and preferences. After the evaluation process it is found that the Libyan housing policy has benefited large groups of people, particularly those on low-income. However, it also suggests that the adopted policy has not resolved the housing problems both in terms of quantity and quality. In particular, the dwellings provided have not met the needs of many Libyan families. Furthermore, the study found that there is a lack of housing management. This evident from some households living in the dwellings without permission in addition, the rate of sharing and occupancy shows that there is still a housing shortage. The study also shows that the dwelling and building construction types affect the resident attitudes to dwellings. Also shows that, most of the residents' prefer new dwellings.
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Rasmussen-Costello, Susanne. "Evaluation of housing projects : methodological considerations based on selected case studies from developing countries." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77340.
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de, Lima Filho Jose Luiz. "The development and evaluation of a microprocessor-controlled bioreactor for use in developing countries." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14572.
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A laboratory scale fermenter control system, based on a Z80 microprocessor operating at 4 MHz, has been developed. The system has the following features: 1 -" 8 Kbytes of RAM and 4 Kbytes of EPROM (with extra space for another 4 Kbytes); 2 -" Two serial links (RS232c);3-" An analog/digital converter with an 8 channel multiplexer and an opto-triac system for switching control devices (heater, peristaltic pumps); 4 -" Four interface cards to connect the parameter sensors. This system has the advantage that it is based on well established (though not state-of-the-art) microelectronic technology (Z80 chips) widely available in the world at reasonable prices. This, plus the fact that both hardware and software were locally designed, means that it is truly 'portable' in the sense that, with limited resources, copies can easily be constructed in developing countries (the idea is that Mark-II will be built in North East Brazil to support research into yeast fermentation technology). The control system was evaluated in batch and chemostatic growth modes. Both modes were used to investigate the growth kinetics of a genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain (BC55) carrying the plasmid pCYG4 which directs 10 fold more NADP-GDH activity than wild type cells. Batch culture experiments showed that the presence of plasmid increased ammonia uptake by the cells but did not improve biomass or ethanol yield compared to wild type cells. Under carbon-limitation NADP-GDH activity was in phase with GOGAT and penicillinase activity. NADP-GDH and GOGAT activities were inversely proportional to intracellular ammonia concentration and proportional to intracellular L-glutamate concentration. Under nitrogen limitation (using ammonia as limiting substrate) GOGAT activity increased, but NADP-GDH and penicillinase activity remained at the same level as under carbon limitation. Using L-glutamate as nitrogen source NADP-GDH activity was very low and GOGAT and penicillinase activities were undetectables with an increase in NAD-GDH activity. Oscillations found in enzyme activities and intracellular metabolite concentration under carbon and nitrogen limitation experiments are a consequence of a mixed culture (the presence of cells with plasmid GDH (gdh+ cells) and cells without plasmid GDH (gdh- cells)) with changing concentrations of the 2 populations.
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Vanroose, Annabel. "The Uneven development of the microfinance sector." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/209955.
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Microfinance relates to the provision, by specialized microfinance institutions (MFIs), of small-scale financial services - such as credit, savings, and insurance - to the poorer sections of the population. These sections have traditionally been excluded by the financial system. Microfinance is viewed as a system put into place in order to overcome market failures that are created by banks and that are omnipresent in the developing world. In development policy, microfinance has received considerable attention during the last twenty years, and the industry has grown substantially. Interestingly, the sector has been more successful in reaching out to people in some countries than in others. The sector has also developed in an unequal way within countries. The reasons why this happened are not directly apparent. This doctoral dissertation addresses the uneven development of the microfinance sector and aims at identifying factors that explain it.The dissertation consists of three main parts. The first part, which consists of two papers, combines different datasets on the outreach of MFIs to assess in which countries MFIs have developed most. The papers indicate that the microfinance sector is more present in the richer countries of the developing world. It also reaches more clients in countries that receive more international aid. Population density also plays a stimulating role, which partially explains why the sector is still underdeveloped in rural areas.
The second part of the dissertation, which exists of one paper, explores in more depth the relationship between traditional financial sector development and microfinance institutions. The paper, co-authored with Bert D’Espallier, shows that MFIs reach more clients and are more profitable in countries where access to the traditional financial system is low. This is in line with the market-failure hypothesis. Along the same line, we find that MFIs serve poorer people in countries with well-developed financial systems. This observation is an important element to take into account in the debate on mission drift of the sector, where it is feared that MFIs drift away from serving the poor. The paper shows that MFIs in countries with well-developed banking sectors have less space to move up market and consequently to drift from the sector’s general mission.
The third and final part of the dissertation is a quantitative study on the spread and expansion process of MFIs in one Latin American country, Peru. The roles that district characteristics play in the decision to open an MFI branch are scrutinized. The paper finds that MFIs mainly increase financial access in districts with higher levels of development. Districts where banks are already present also have a higher probability that MFIs will open a branch there. This demonstrates that the two kinds of institutions co-exist in several districts, but most probably serve another clientele. Overall, although strategies differ between different types of Peruvian MFIs, the paper finds that they do not seem to be driven by a pure developmental logic that would push them towards the poorest or totally unbanked regions of the country.
On the whole, the main conclusions of the dissertation can be summarized as follows. First, the dissertation demonstrates that the outreach of the microfinance sector is influenced by a number of macro factors. Consequently, country-specific and macro-economic factors should be taken into account when evaluating MFI performance. Second, the dissertation shows that MFIs substitute the traditional banking sector. MFIs thus fulfill an important part of their mission, i.e. they have helped to increase financial access in the developing world. However, the study also suggests that MFIs still fail to serve a significant number of poor people. This leads to a third important observation, namely that MFIs may in fact not strive to serve the poor as such. Rather, it seems that they are currently focusing on the un-served market in general. The observation indicates that there is a need for a more thorough investigation on the issue of whom the unbanked in the developing countries are and whom MFIs actually strive to serve. Finally, since the outreach and performance of MFIs is dependent on the presence of a stimulating macro-environment, it remains a challenge to serve the financially excluded in the more remote areas of the developing countries and the people in the poorest ones.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Berolsky, Nuno Goncalo. "An evaluation of IMF structural adjustment programmes : lessons for South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002668.
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The mixed results of International Monetary Fund structural adjustment programmes in less developed countries are a major motivation for this research. Explanations must be advanced as to what may inhibit the success of such programmes. South Africa has often found itself in a precarious position- with a deteriorating balance of payments, a position similar to other countries that have accepted IMF loans. Furthermore, South Africa undertook an IMF loan in 1993. Financial support from the IMF incorporates structural adjustment programmes. These may include measures such as tighter monetary policy, reduction in the budget deficit, exchange rate devaluation and ceilings on domestic credit with increased interest rates (Ferguson, 1988). These policies illustrate the principle of ‘conditionality,’ whereby access to further loans is conditional on certain criteria being met, such as reduced budget deficits and inflation rates. The principle of conditionality has met with a great deal of criticism. Bacha (1987) and Dell (1982) argue that these aggregate demand-reducing conditions more often than not stagnate domestic economies, worsening the balance of payment and result in programme breakdowns. Essentially, they refer to the IMF conditions as ‘unrealistic.’ The IMF denies this, arguing that shortfalls are mainly due to a lack of political commitment to carry out its conditions (Winters, 1994). This issue of conditionality will be examined in detail, using three specific case studies. The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics of Brazil, Mexico and Zambia to see whether or not the IMF programmes were successful. Guidelines will be established for South African policy from these case studies. South Africa is trying to adjust to the competitiveness of the international economy. At the same time, the need for reconstruction and development exerts increasing pressures on the balance of payments. Guidelines are established for a successful economic adjustment for South Africa. The research concludes that South Africa is certainly in line for a successful transformation. The rigidities are not as extensive as has been the case in Brazil and Zambia. Institutionally, South Africa is sound. However there are still challenges in this area, such as export diversification and economic stability to attract foreign investment.
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Warner, Michael. "Strategic environmental assessment : a land use evaluation approach for development assistance." Thesis, Imperial College London, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.309536.
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Hamacha, Souheyr Rim. "An evaluation of the performance of competition agencies : the case of Maghreb countries." Thesis, Brunel University, 2017. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/15836.
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A competition agency represents an independent regulatory institution, which takes the form of an administrative body. A competition authority enables the development of markets and displays to market operators and new players a dedication to the principles of free markets and fair competition. In other words, a competition authority should intervene in a timely manner to correct any anti-competitive behaviour and implement the necessary remedies; it should be equipped with an adequate knowledge of the market in order to make its decisions. Moreover, its involvement should be predictable, that is, it should have a positive influence on markets. Furthermore, a competition agency should continuously evaluate its role as public institution and law enforcer by following the economic and legal evolution of the jurisdiction in which it operates. Until recently, the debate has predominantly revolved around the substance of competition law. However, in recent years, the evaluation of the performance of competition agencies has been embraced by numerous countries, including developing ones. This is because most emerging countries around the world have progressively been opening their domestic markets to competition, which led to giving more power to competition agencies to monitor markets. As this perspective has not been explored in the context of Maghreb countries, which also represent developing economies, this research endeavours to do so. Therefore, the aim of this research is to analyse the extent to which the performance of competition agencies in Maghreb countries influences the enforcement of competition law.
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Sanz, Fernández Àlex. "Water and clean energy services in developing countries: Regulation and evaluation of universal service policies." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/387430.
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In this thesis I analyze access problems to basic services like water and energy in developing countries. The objective of the thesis is to show how to improve access to water services and clean energies in rural communities of developing countries.
In this regard, this tesis is composed by three papers. Two focused on analyzing the water sector in developing countries and one paper focused on analyzing the implementation of a program aimed to ease the substitution of wood by LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) as a cooking fuel.
In the first paper, the regulation of water provision in developing countries: coverage quality and prices, I develop a theoretical model aimed to analyze the optimal product line of a regulated utility facing competition from water vendors. The existence of water vendors forces the utility to release standpipes increasing the population with access to the service but reduces coverage. Regulation can mitigate this situation. In addition universal service policies for standpipes or the delegation of standpipes´ management to a different firm can reduce the coverage of the utility. Also, regulation can mitigate this situations.
In the second paper, Community managed water systems: the case of Peru, I make a descriptive analysis of communal organizations providing water services in rural areas of Peru. In addition, I analyze empirically which are the determinants of their presence in Peru. I show that JASS (Juntas Administradoras de Servicios de Saneamiento) are an efficient mechanism to provide water services in rural areas, but they need support. My result show that homogeneous communities, in terms of maintaining the Minka tradition of the Inca Empìre and also in linguistic terms, are more prone to create JASS.
In the third paper, LPG cook stoves in Peru: evaluation of the FISE program, I analyse the implementation of the FISE (Fondo de Inclusión Social Energético) program in Peru. I also analyze empirically its performance in terms of use of LPG stoves and its health benefits associated. In this sense, I show that discount vouchers are an efficient policy to increase the use of LPG, avoiding cross-subsidies, to increase the use of LPG stoves but this policy alone cannot reduce respiratory problems among beneficiaries. On the other hand, this policy reduces diarrhoeal problems.
The main contributions, summarized by paper were: in the first paper I analyzed a theoretical model supposing that the water utility can use two technologies to provide water and faces competition from water resellers. I analyzed how the utility uses coverage, prices and quality to increase its profits. The main contribution of the second paper has been the analysis of JASS. As far as I know this is the first paper doing so. It is interesting to remark that municipalities lower than 2.000 population have to be served by JASS, but not all municipalities have created JASS. I analyzed the determinants for the creation of JASS in Peru. Finally, in the third paper I analyzed a policy aimed to increase the use of LPG as fuel for cooking purposes via offering discount vouchers for low income households. As far as I know this is an innovative policy in Latin American countries. In the paper, I have analyzed the implementation of the program, the problems faced during its implementation and also I analyzed empirically its performance.En esta tesis se analizan los problemas de acceso a los servicios básicos como el agua y la energía en los países en desarrollo. El objetivo de la tesis es mostrar cómo mejorar el acceso a los servicios de agua y energías limpias en las comunidades rurales de los países en desarrollo. En este sentido, esta tesis se compone de tres papeles. Dos centrado en el análisis del sector del agua en los países en desarrollo y uno de papel centrado en el análisis de la implementación de un programa destinado a facilitar la sustitución de la madera por GLP (Gas Licuado de Petróleo) como combustible para cocinar. En el primer documento, la regulación del suministro de agua en los países en desarrollo: la calidad de la cobertura y los precios, se desarrolla un modelo teórico tuvo como objetivo analizar la línea de productos óptima de un servicio público regulado frente a la competencia de los vendedores de agua. La existencia de los vendedores de agua obliga a la energía para dar tomas de agua cada vez mayores de la población con acceso al servicio, pero reduce la cobertura. La regulación puede mitigar esta situación. Además políticas de servicio universal para tomas de agua o la delegación de la gestión standpipes' a una empresa diferente pueden reducir la cobertura de la utilidad. Además, la regulación puede mitigar estas situaciones. En el segundo artículo, los sistemas de agua comunitaria logró: el caso de Perú, hago un análisis descriptivo de las organizaciones comunales que prestan los servicios de agua en las zonas rurales de Perú. Además se analizan empíricamente cuáles son los factores determinantes de su presencia en Perú. Muestro que JASS (Juntas Administradoras de Servicios de Saneamiento) son un mecanismo eficiente para proporcionar servicios de agua en las zonas rurales, pero que necesitan apoyo. Mi resultado muestra que las comunidades homogéneas, en cuanto al mantenimiento de la tradición Minka del Imperio Inca y también en términos lingüísticos, son más propensos a crear JASS. En el tercer artículo, estufas de cocción GLP en Perú: evaluación del programa FISE, que analizan la ejecución del programa FISE (Fondo de Inclusión Social Energético) en el Perú. También se analizan empíricamente su desempeño en términos de uso de cocinas de GLP y sus beneficios para la salud asociados. En este sentido, se muestra que los vales de descuento son una política eficiente para aumentar el uso de GLP, evitarán las subvenciones cruzadas, para aumentar el uso de estufas de LPG pero esta política por sí sola no puede reducir los problemas respiratorios entre los beneficiarios. Por otra parte, esta política reduce los problemas de diarrea. Las principales contribuciones, resumidas por el papel son: en el primer documento analizaba un modelo teórico suponiendo que la empresa de agua se puede utilizar dos tecnologías para proporcionar agua y se enfrenta a la competencia de los distribuidores de agua. He analizado cómo la utilidad utiliza cobertura, precios y calidad para aumentar sus beneficios. La principal contribución del segundo documento ha sido el análisis de JASS. Por lo que yo sé que este es el primer documento de hacerlo. Es interesante destacar que los municipios menores de 2.000 habitantes tienen que ser servido por JASS, pero no todos los municipios han creado JASS. He analizado los factores determinantes para la creación de JASS en el Perú. Por último, en el tercer artículo analizaba una política destinada a incrementar el uso de GLP como combustible para cocinar a través de ofrecer cupones de descuento para los hogares de bajos ingresos. Por lo que yo sé que esto es una política innovadora en los países latinoamericanos. En el trabajo he analizado la ejecución del programa, los problemas que enfrentan durante su ejecución y también analizan empíricamente su rendimiento.
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Alzghoul, Amro. "Evaluation of University-Library Knowledge Management Practice: Comparative Case Studies from Developing and Developed Countries." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för informatik (IK), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-30692.
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Knowledge management (KM) has become a vital part of the successful development of private and governmental organizations. KM is processed tools and behaviors that participate in the formulation and performance of the beneficiaries of the organization, acquisition, storage and distribution of knowledge. This is to reflect on the business processes and to gain access to best practices with a view to long-term competition and adaptation. In this context, the personal understanding of KM is a key factor in successful employments of KM activities. In this thesis, the level of understanding of knowledge management and the extent of its usage in the university library by librarians was investigated. A comparison study was established between libraries in developed and developing countries. Interviews and observations were performed and the results were analyzed. The results indicate the concept of KM is hardly known, however it is employed to different extent between these counties, the developed countries were by far more successful in utilizing current technology to advance their service and personal expertise with few challenges. Lack of communication, knowledge sharing, and the shortage in the budget was essential in limiting the usage of KM in developing counties. The knowledge derived from this thesis advances an understanding of the importance of KM in library performance, thus presenting the basis for improving libraries in developing countries and advancing libraries in developed countries.
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Powell, Andrew. "The evaluation of commodity options and the management of commodity related risks for developing countries." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.357291.
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Mthoko, Hafeni L. W. T. "Outcome and impact assessment in the comprehensive evaluation of rural ICT projects in developing countries." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64483.
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Nduwarugira, Ginnet, and Tsion Woldemariam. "Microfinance a poverty trap or solution? : A study of the development strategies operational NGOs use to help entrepreneurs in developing countries escape the povetry trap." Thesis, Högskolan Kristianstad, Sektionen för hälsa och samhälle, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-14461.
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Microfinance is many times used as a developmental tool to tackle hunger and other issues related to poverty. The adoption of microfinance as a tool to raise welfare in communities is rising in the sector of Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs). In recent times, development projects by Non-Governmental Organizations have been criticized for lacking financial sustainability and for leading people into a poverty trap created from a vicious cycle of borrowing. For entrepreneurship to flourish, micro-financial clients must first escape the poverty trap by becoming self-sufficient.The purpose of this thesis is to comprehend what strategies operational Non-Governmental Organizations use in developing countries in order for clients to escape the poverty trap with the help of sustainable microfinance.The stakeholder theory is the comprehensive approach used in this thesis to understand how a Non-Governmental Organization’s stakeholders influence their Microfinance Program and vice versa. The Non-Governmental Organizations need to incorporate all the stakeholders and assist these stakeholders to strive for a common goal. A qualitative case study was conducted on the global, non-profit, strategic organization; The Hunger Project.Our findings resulted in identifying the integrated holistic Epicenter strategy as The Hunger Project’s solution to tackling economic- and development inhibiting barriers. The findings indicate that a sustainable Microfinance Program may need to be integrated into all surrounding aspects influencing the micro-financial stakeholders.The implications of this study is that microfinance providers can gain an understanding of the requirements for sustainable Microfinance Programs. This understanding will result in organizations being able to contribute to a more sustainable development for underprivileged entrepreneurs. Our dissertation contributes in creating awareness in potential solutions for overcoming micro-financial criticism, by implementing and integrating sustainable principles along with the society.
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Roma, Elisa. "Evaluation of WATSAN technologies in developing countires : development and testing of a diagnostic tool." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2010. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/5444.
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For decades the problems of access to and sustained use of water and sanitation (WATSAN) technologies in developing countries has dominated the political agendas of international organisations and governments. Despite the significant investments made and the apparent appropriateness of technologies transferred, the effective implementation and sustained use of WATSAN technologies remains a chimera. More importantly, improving access to water and sanitation does not necessarily guarantee the longevity of those systems transferred. Lessons from past interventions suggest that the success of WATSAN interventions depends on the ability of ensuring users‟ broad acceptance of the technologies and sustained used after donor assistance ends. Yet, in the academic literature users‟ feedback and experiences in the post-implementation stage of technologies has received scarce attention. Against this background, this thesis aims to contribute to understanding the dynamics involved in the process of WATSAN technology adoption and sustained use in developing countries by reporting the design and evaluation of a diagnostic post- implementation tool, called RECAP, to address and investigate the problem. This research employs a multiple case study approach to evaluate users‟ post-implementation experience of WATSAN technologies in South Africa and Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews with technology users as well as in depth interviews with local governments and health clinics were conducted in three case studies. By comparing and contrasting technology intended performance and users‟ experiences in the post-implementation stage this study aims to identify potential challenges to technology sustained used. Conclusions relate to the existence of discrepancies between performance and experience, manifested in the post-implementation stage, which suggest the necessity to develop evolving mechanisms to routinely assess users‟ feedbacks of the technologies and assist them with appropriate interventions. Further conclusions relate to the validity, reliability and flexibility of a post-implementation diagnostic tool in investigating user experiences, diagnosing emerging challenges and suggesting remedial intervention to contribute to sustained technology use.
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Antunes, Dias Batista Edgard. "Bicycle Sharing in Developing Countries: : A proposal towards sustainable transportation in Brazilian median cities." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekologi, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-55335.
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Bicycle-sharing programs are a new trend in urban transportation. The main difference of a bicycle-sharing program with a regular bicycle rental is that is possible to get a bicycle in one station and return it in any other station. There are many models of bicycle sharing, each model with its pros and cons. This study analyzes the bicycle-sharing models in order to build a proposal of a bicycle-sharing program suitable for Brazilian median cities. The study begins with an overview of bicycle transportation, followed by the analysis of different bicycle-sharing programs. The last chapter formulates a proposal of a bicycle-sharing program suitable for Brazilian median cities. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. The analysis includes a case study on the bicycle-sharing program in Stockholm. This case study is based on interviews with the manager of the program in the company in charge, and with the responsible official in Stockholm municipality. A questionnaire was moreover handed out to users of the program. This case study is complemented with a questionnaire sent by email to managers of bicycle-sharing programs in some cities around the world, this in order to provide more examples on how bicycle sharing can be organized. Finally, another case study was carried out in a Brazilian median city in order to evaluate the local awareness concerning bicycle transport, and the possibility of implementing a bicycle-sharing program there. A questionnaire was handed out to a sample of the local population and an interview was made with the local transport authority. The analysis of all data results in a proposal for a bicycle-sharing program suitable for the Brazilian context. The proposal comprises the choices of bicycles, stations, equipment related to the hiring process and service vehicle. It includes a complete financial appraisal with the necessary capital for implementing and managing the program. It shows that it is possible to build an affordable bicycle-sharing program adapted to Brazilian median cities. The program will create job opportunities and can contribute to a changed view of bicycle transportation in these cities. The proposal could also be applied in countries with the same characteristics as Brazil.
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Carvalho, Natalie. "Health Impacts and Economic Evaluations of Maternal and Child Health Programs in Developing Countries." Thesis, Harvard University, 2012. http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10264.
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This dissertation is motivated by two of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): MDG 4, focused on reducing child mortality, and MDG 5, which aims to improve maternal health. My three papers evaluate the health and economic impact, and cost-effectiveness, of interventions to improve maternal and child health in three areas of the developing world using methods from decision sciences and statistics. In paper 1, I use a decision-analytic model that simulates the natural history of pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications to assess the expected health outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness of strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Afghanistan. Increasing family planning was found to be the most effective single intervention to reduce maternal mortality. Further findings suggest that a stepwise approach that couples increased family planning with incremental improvements in access to appropriate intrapartum care could prevent 3 out of 4 maternal deaths and would be cost-effective. Paper 2 explores the value of community-based disease management programs for reducing mortality from childhood pneumonia and malaria in 24 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. I use a model-based framework that combines symptom patterns, care-seeking behavior, and treatment coverage from an empirical assessment of household survey data with information on diagnostic algorithms and disease progression from the literature. Results indicate that a community health worker program modeled on currently-existing programs could avert over 100,000 under-five deaths combined across the 24 countries and would be regarded as cost-effective compared to the status quo under typical benchmarks for international cost-effectiveness analysis. My third paper evaluates the effect of Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a conditional cash transfer program intended to promote the use of reproductive health services in India, on childhood immunizations and other reproductive and child health indicators. Using observational data from the most recent district-level household survey, I conduct a matching analysis with logistic regression to assess the associations of interest. Results show that receipt of financial assistance from JSY led to a significant increase in childhood immunizations rates, post-partum check-ups, and some healthy breastfeeding practices, but no impact was found on exclusive breastfeeding and care-seeking behaviors.
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Rorabeck, Janice, and Janice Rorabeck. "Sustainability of Collaborative Educational Endeavor in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/623011.
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Objective: The purpose of this DNP Project was to investigate factors that influence the sustainability of a prior nursing physical assessment education intervention with intensive care unit (ICU) nurses working at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Haiti. Methods: A qualitative design, utilizing focus group interviews and direct observation was used. Two focus group interviews were held at St. Luke’s Hospital. Participants were identified via purposeful sampling, with the aid of key informants, to include Haitian nursing and medical administration, ICU staff nurses, and physicians that participated in the prior nursing education intervention. An interpreter was present during the interviews. The interviews were audio taped, allowing verbatim translation and transcription into English. The transcription was analyzed to identify themes regarding factors that influenced the sustainability of the prior nursing physical assessment education. Findings: The majority of themes identified in the nursing focus group interview were mirrored in the physician focus group interview and aligned with current literature. These included staffing, nursing knowledge regarding physical assessments, and continuing education. The nursing focus group indicated that ongoing communication and collaboration were factors influencing sustainability. In the physician focus group, the theme of interdisciplinary integration also emerged. Conclusion: There is limited literature discussing the factors that influence sustainability of nursing education in developing countries. A program evaluation to examine these factors for the prior nursing education at St. Luke’s Hospital had not been conducted. Findings indicate that there are numerous factors that influenced the sustainability of the prior nursing physical assessment education intervention. Although these findings are not transferable to other settings or populations, understanding means to increase sustainability may be influential in future nursing education endeavors with St. Luke’s Hospital in Haiti.
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Kolsky, Peter Jonathan. "Performance-based evaluation of surface water drainage in developing countries : a case study in Indore, Madhya Pradesh." Thesis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London), 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.299461.
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Kumar, Vimal S. M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Project identification and evaluation techniques for transportation infrastructure : assessing their role in metropolitan areas of developing countries." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/47761.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-186).
Project identification and evaluation of transportation infrastructure play a vital role in shaping and sustaining the forms of cities all over the world. These cities differ substantially in character and urban form and have different transport systems and transport related problems. Most large cities in the developing world face major problems as a result of rapid population growth, extensive urbanization, market uncertainties, scarcity of resources and inadequate planning capabilities. Transport policies and procedures that worked reasonably well when cities were smaller start failing as they expand, while environmental and social problems become more pressing. The traditional methodologies for evaluating urban transportation infrastructure projects are unable to address issues of most concern in developing countries. The thesis outlines a framework for assessing the role of various planning and evaluation methodologies for transportation infrastructure projects. The framework developed for project identification and evaluation serves as a useful tool to structure and assess the gaps identified from a literature review and case studies. The major gaps identified can be listed as: * Lack of integrated approach for transportation infrastructure and land-use planning; * Inadequate provision for maintenance and monitoring of transport facilities; * Unequal distribution of benefits of transport for women; * Limited rural transport infrastructure; and * Lack of suitable financing arrangements and no incorporation of sustainable development measures. The overall transportation planning and evaluation process can be improved by incorporating certain steps and requirements that address these gaps and make transportation infrastructure more accessible, safer, reliable, and efficient.
by Vimal Kumar.
S.M.
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Gustafsson, Martin Anders. "School production modelling to strengthen government monitoring programmes in developing countries." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2683.
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Thesis (MEcon)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.Education production function analysis is widely recognised as one important area of research that needs to inform education policymaking, specifically policy relating to the mix of funded inputs in a schooling system. Arriving at production functions is a complex task, and is fraught with methodological pitfalls. This thesis sets out to establish a framework for undertaking education production function analysis, and in discussing its various elements, including its pitfalls, recommendations for good practice are arrived at. The material analysed is of four types: texts on econometric theory; existing production function analyses; documentation relating to three dataintensive school monitoring programmes, namely Brazil’s SAEB, South Africa’s Systemic Evaluation and the international SACMEQ programme; and lastly data, relating mainly to South Africa, from the 2000 run of SACMEQ. The thesis is organised according what can be regarded as seven key analysis steps. These steps include a focus on the importance of a ‘mental model’, the relative benefits of the one-level regression model and the hierarchical linear model (HLM), and the formulation of actual production functions for South Africa based on the SACMEQ data, using both one-level and HLM models. Key conclusions are, firstly, that the HLM, though still under-developed, offers great analysis potential and, secondly, that production function analyses ought to be translated into budgetary terms in order for them to become fully meaningful to the policymaker.
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Ross, Alan. "The design, monitoring and evaluation of aid-funded projects in developing countries with particular reference to road safety." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.239704.
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Šimlová, Denisa. "Mikrofinancování - nástroj ke snižování chudoby." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2007. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-5394.
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This diploma thesis focuses on microfinance, it's basic characteristics and general principles of it's function. It introduces microfinance approaches, development of microfinance, microfinancial services and microfinance providers. Two largest microfinance institutions in Bangladesh, Grameen bank a BRAC, illustrate how microfinance works, helps to empower the poor and reduces their poverty in one of the poorest countries in the world.
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Baffrey, Robert Michael Nuval 1977. "Development of program implementation, evaluation, and selection tools for household water treatment and safe storage systems in developing countries." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28942.
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Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, leaves 224-231).
Over the past six years, the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering's Master of Engineering program has undertaken various projects involved with the design and implementation of a wide range of household drinking water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) systems. Projects have been conducted in Nepal, Haiti, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Peru, with the current year's project team focused on Kenya. These individual and team projects have brought the overall HWTS program to a point where program implementation practices are now of great interest. The primary objective of this thesis is to generate program implementation and selection tools to aid in the implementation of HWTS systems for local communities in developing nations. The tools generated are presented as two separate components: (1) a HWTS implementation organization survey and (2) a HWTS technology selection tool. The HWTS implementation organization survey is intended primarily for information collection on currently implemented HWTS programs, but is also applicable for pre-implementation scenarios. In late 2004, in collaboration with the Implementation Working Group of the WHO International Network to Promote Household Drinking Water and Safe Storage ("The Network"), the MIT team developed a draft implementation organization survey.
(cont.) During January 2005, this survey instrument was vetted and iterated through interactions with eleven different HWTS implementing program groups working in five of Kenya's seven provinces and one area, who are applying eight different HWTS technologies: household chlorination, solar disinfection, boiling, ceramic candle filtration, concrete BioSand filtration, combined flocculation/ disinfection, defluoridation with bone char, and the modified clay pot. The HWTS technology selection tool is meant to aid stakeholders in the choice of the most appropriate HWTS technology, or combination of technologies, for a given potential implementation area. The tool utilizes parameters such as target population and water source to generate a score specific to each of the HWTS technologies and to effectively rank each of the technologies in terms of applicability to a given target area. Research collected by the MIT team during the January 2005 Kenya trip served as the primary basis for the allocation of scores for each of the parameters utilized.
by Robert Michael Nuval Baffrey.
M.Eng.
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Escarré, Urueña Roberto. "The higher education role in building human capital. Impact evaluation of higher education capacity building interventions in developing countries." Doctoral thesis, Universidad de Alicante, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10045/54051.
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The pivotal role of Higher Education (HE) for the progression of developing countries is widely acknowledged. Higher Education contributes to, among other important aspects, the generation of human capital for later incorporation into important sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, new technologies, or tourism. Important international donor agencies already acknowledge this fact, particularly within the past decade. Since the beginning of the new millennium, Higher Education has acquired a prominent position on their agendas, and a notable increase in funding has been observed. In this framework, Capacity Building (CB) interventions have one of the preferred actions by donors since the eighties, due to the influence of the Human Capital Theory (and Endogenous Growth Models) in the development assistance domain. These interventions, in the field of Higher Education in developing countries, might adopt different approaches: individual (via scholarships to students), organizational (via consortia or networks between universities, targeting Higher Education institutions), and societal (via projects targeting some aspects of the Higher Education systems). Despite the fact that HE CB interventions in developing countries are becoming more popular little research and monitoring has been done to understand the impact of these multiple types of interventions neither by academics, donors or policymakers. By considering these gaps, the aim of this research was to propose an evaluation and monitoring framework for specific HE CB interventions that will allow to explore the human capital benefits of these types of interventions. The study approaches this aim from different angles: by strengthening the links between key concepts form different fields, providing a better understanding of the types of HE CB interventions and proposing methods to measure the impact which are, in turn, empirically tested during the research. The study adopts different methodologies according to the research aims. A combination of mixed qualitative and quantitative methods was chosen to analyse two selected case studies. The first was a HE CB programme for Latin American Deans chosen to observe its impacts for the participating individuals. Based on this case study, a new methodological tool was proposed to assess individual HE CB interventions at mid and long-term. The second case study involved a sample of worldwide HE CB programme practitioners engaged through the participatory methodology of a Delphi survey to observe their perceptions about the impact of different programmes at multiple levels: individual, organisational and societal. Through this multiple approach, the study makes a number of contributions. First, it adds to the literature combining both the Economics of Education and CB by contributing to the academic debate from the theory and specially providing new empirical evidences. Second, the study proposes new forms of measuring the impact some of which are empirically tested and validated though the positive results of this study, while others will need to be further developed and tested in future research. In summary, through all the different case studies selected, the research has contributed to provide better evidence of the impact and benefits of HE CB interventions to inspire more efficient programmes and better evidence-based policies that could contribute to the development of these countries.