The Legitimacy of Profit of Microlending Institutions and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study from Jordan

Authors

  • Nebal Al Maaitah University of Miskolc

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18096/TMP.2019.01.01

Keywords:

social enterprises, women’s empowerment, microlending, Jordan

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of the profitability policy of microlending institutions on women’s social empowerment in specific aspects (education, health, and social status). Data were collected from 385 women-led microenterprises in Jordan. The dependent variable will be social empowerment measured by education, health, and social status. Descriptive analysis and regression analysis findings revealed there is no impact of profitability policy on women’s level of education, social status and the whole dimension of social empowerment. However, there is a positive effect of profitability on women’s health. This paper gives recommendations to policy makers to reformulate the current profitability policy to further support the global goal of women empowerment, and reflect the microcredit ideology.

Author Biography

Nebal Al Maaitah, University of Miskolc

Ph.D student

References

ADEEL, M., NETT, B., GURBANOVA, T., WULF, V., & RANDALL, D. (2013). The challenges of microfinance innovation: Understanding ‘private services’. In ECSCW 2013: Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 21-25 September 2013, Paphos, Cyprus (pp. 269-286). Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5346-7_14

AHEEYAR, M. (2007). Impacts of Micro Finance on Micro Enterprises: A Comparative Analysis of Samurdhi and SEEDS Micro Enterprises in Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute

AL-AZZAM, M. & MIMOUNI, K. (2017). Currency risk and microcredit interest rates. Emerging Markets Review, 31, 80-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2017.03.001

AL-MAAITAH.N (2019). To What Extent Micro Lending Institution’s Policy Help to Improve Income and Employment Prospects of Women Start-ups: Case Study from Jordan, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development, 7(1), 41-59. https://doi.org/10.15640/jsbed.v7n1a4

AL-SHAMI, S., MAJID, I., RIZAL, S., MUHAMAD, M., SARAH-HALIM & RASHID, N. (2015). The Impact of Malaysian Microfinance on Women Livelihood. Advanced Science Letters, 21(6), 2046-2049. http://dx.doi.org/10.1166/asl.2015.6202

ALSOP, R., BERTSLAN, M., & HOLLAND, J. (2006). Empowerment in Practise. Washington, DC: World Bank.

ANGELUCCI, M., D. KARLAN, & J. ZINMAN,. (2012). Win some lose some? Evidence from a randomized microcredit program placement experiment by Compartamos Banco. J-PAL working paper. https://doi.org/10.3386/w19119

ARMENDÁRIZ, B. & J. MORDUCH (2005). The Economics of Microfinance. (1st ed) MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.

ARMENDÁRIZ, B. & J. MORDUCH. (2010). The Economics of Microfinance. (2nd ed). MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.

ARMENDÁRIZ, B., & MORDUCH, J. (2000). Microfinance beyond group lending. Economics of Transition 8, 401–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0351.00049

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB). (2007). Effect of Microfinance Operation on Poor Rural Housholds and the Status of Women. Manila, ABD. https://www.adb.org/documents/effect-microfinance-poor-rural-households-and-status-women

AUGSBURG, B., & FOUILLET, C. (2010). Profit Empowerment: The Microfinance Institution’s Mission Drift. Perspectives on Global Development and Technology. 9. 327-355. https://doi.org/10.1163/156914910X499732

BANERJEE, A., DUFLO, E., GLENNERSTER, R., & KINNAN, C. (2015). The miracle of microfinance? Evidence from a randomized evaluation. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1), 22-53. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20130533

BETZ, F & FREWER, G (2016). Neighbourhood SME financing: Jordan, Regional Studies and Roundtables, European Investment Bank (EIB). https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/163414

BRETT, J. A., (2006). We sacrifice and eat less: The structural complexities of microfinance participation. Human Organization, 65(1), 8-19. https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.65.1.6wvq3ea7pbl38mub

CENTRAL BANK OF JORDAN (2019). Microfinance companies laws No.5 of 2015. Retrieved from http://www.cbj.gov.jo/Pages/viewpage.aspx?pageID=86

CHOWDHURY, A. (2009). Microfinance as a poverty reduction tool: a critical assessment, DESA Working Paper 89, The United Nation.

COLEMAN, B (1999).The Impact of Group Lending in Northeast Thailand. Journal of Development Economics, 60, 105–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3878(99)00038-3

CULL, R., & DEMIRGUC-KUNT, A,. & MORDUCH, J,. (2009). Microfinance Tradeoffs: Regulation, Competition, and Financing. The World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper Series. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-5086

CULL, R., HARTEN, S., NISHIDA, I., BOGDANA RUSU, A., & BULL, G. (2015). Benchmarking the financial performance, growth, and outreach of Greenfield MFIs in Africa. Emerging Markets Review, 25, 92-124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2015.05.002

D'ESPALLIER, B., GUERIN, I., & MERSLAND, R. (2013). Focus on women in microfinance institutions. The Journal of Development Studies, 49(5), 589-608. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2012.720364

DASH, A., (2012). Social Innovations and the Institutional Challenge in Microfinance. In Challenge Social Innovation, Potentials for Business, Social Entrepreneurship, Welfare & Civil Society, edited by H. W. Franz, J. Hochgerner, and J. Howaldt, 197–214. Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32879-4_13

DE OLIVEIRA CREVELARI, H.E. (2017). A Different Perspective on the Debate Between Nonprofit and For-Profit Microfinance Organizations. Honors Thesis. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1207&context=honors

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS. (2018). Jordan in Figure and Statistical Year Book. Retrieved from: http://dosweb.dos.gov.jo/products/jordan-statistical-yearbook-2018/

DHAKAL. N. (2010). Role of State for the Development of Microfinance Sector, Microfinance Summit 2010, Nepal

FERNANDO, NA. (2006). Understanding and Dealing with High-Interest Rates on Microcredit. A Note to Policy Makers in the Asia and Pacific Region. Asian Development Bank:

FLYNN, P. (2007). Microfinance: The Newest Financial Technology of the Washington Consensus. Challenge, 50(2), 110-121. https://doi.org/10.2753/0577-5132500207

GANLEA, J.K., AFRIYIE, K., & ALEXANDER YAO SEGBEFIA, A.Y. (2015). Microcredit: Empowerment and disempowerment of rural women in Ghana. World Development, 66, 335–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.08.027

GLAESER, E. AND SHLEIFER, A. (2001). Not-for-profit entrepreneurs. Journal of Public Economics, 81(1), 99-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2727(00)00130-4

HAILE, H. B., BOCK, B., & FOLMER, H. (2012). Microfinance and female empowerment: Do institutions matter? Women's Studies International Forum, 35(4), 256–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2012.04.001

HAIR, J. F. JR., ANDERSON, R. E., TATHAM, R. L. & BLACK, W. C. (1995). Multivariate Data Analysis, 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan.

HARTARSKA, V. (2005). Governance and performance of microfinance institutions in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States. World Development, 33(10), 1627-1643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.06.001

HASHEMI SM, SCHULER SR., RILEY AP (1996). Rural Credit Programs and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. World Development 24, 635-653. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(95)00159-A http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/HDQ869.pdf.

HUDON, M. (2011). Ethics in microfinance. Published in: The Handbook of Microfinance, B. Armendáriz & M. Labie (eds), UK: World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814295666_0006

HULME, D. AND MOSLEY, P. (1996). Finance against Poverty, 1 and 2. Routledge, London.

HUSSAIN, A. (1998). Preventing and controlling micronutrient malnutrition through food-based actions in South Asian countries. Food, Nutrition and Agriculture 22, 63–65.

JORDEN, R. (2014,September,16).What Are The Small Business Survival Rates?. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140915223641-170128193-what-are-the-real-small-business-survival-rates/

KABEER, N. (2001).Conflicts over credit: revaluating the empowerment potential of loans to women in rural Bangladesh. World Development, 29(1), 63-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(00)00081-4

KARIM, H. A., (2008). The quality of life of residents of low-cost urban flats in Klang and Shah Alam. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis UKM, Bangi.

KARLAN D, RANKIN, K.N (2011). Social Capital, Microfinance, and the Politics of Development. Feminist Economics, 8(1), 1–24. http://dox.doi.org/10.1080/13545700210125167

KARLAN, D., GOLDBERG N. (2011). Microfinance evaluation strategies: notes on methodology and findings. In The Handbook of Microfinance, ed. B Armendariz, M Labie, pp. 17–58. London: World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814295666_0002

KEATING, C., RASMUSSEN, C., & RISHI, P. (2010). The rationality of empowerment: Microcredit, accumulation by dispossession, and the gendered economy. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 36(1), 153-176. https://doi.org/10.1086/652911

KLING, B., & RUDNER, D., (1996). Caste and Capitalism in Colonial India: The Nattukottai Chettiars. The American Historical Review, 101(5), 1607. http://dox.doi.org/10.2307/2170307

KNEIDING, C; & ROSENBERG, R. (2008). Variations in Microcredit Interest Rates. CGAP. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1401476

KODONGO, O., & KENDI, L. G. (2013). Individual lending versus group lending: An evaluation with Kenya's microfinance data. Review of Development Finance, 3(2), 99-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rdf.2013.05.001

LANDELL K. (1997). Management by Menu. London: Wiley and Sons Inc.

LITTLEFIELD, E., MORDUCH, J., & HASHEMI, S. (2003). Is microfinance an effective strategy to reach the millennium development goals?. Focus note, 24(2003), 1-11.

MASON, K. O., & SMITH, H. L. (2003). Women’s empowerment and social context: Results from five Asian countries. Gender and Development Group, World Bank, Washington, DC.

MAYOUX, L. (1999). Questioning virtuous spirals: micro-finance and women's empowerment in Africa. Journal of International Development, 11, 957–984. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1328(199911/12)11:7<957::AID-JID623>3.0.CO;2-#

MCINTOSH.C, & BRUCE, WYDICK.B. (2005). Competition and Microfinance. Journal of Development Economics 78(2), 271-298. http://dx. doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2004.11.008

MERTLER, C.A., & VANNATTA, R.A. (2005). Advanced and multivariate statistical procedures, 3rd ed. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing.

MINISTRY OF PANNING, (2011). The Jordanian National Policy Framework for Microfinance towards Inclusive Finance. Available at: www.mop.gov.jo/echobusv3.0/.../The%20Jordanian%20National%20Policy.pdf

MkNELLY, B., & DUNFORD, C. (1998). Impact of Credit with Education on mothers' and their young children's nutrition: Lower Pra Rural Bank Credit with Education program in Ghana. Davis, CA: Freedom from Hunger.

MkNELLY, B., & STACK. K. E. (1998). Loan Size Growth and Sustainability in Village Banking Programs. Small Enterprise Development, 9 (2), 4-16. https://doi.org/10.3362/0957-1329.1998.014

NASER,S.& ELABD,Y.(2013). Developing micro, small and medium enterprises in Jordan: the route to shared prosperity. MENA knowledge and learning quick notes series; no. 88. Washington DC; World Bank. Retrieved from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/774681468040480109/Developing-micro-small-and-medium-enterprises-in-Jordan-the-route-to-shared-prosperity

NAVED., RT. (1994). Empowerment of Women: Listening to the Voices of Women. The Bangladesh Development Studies, Women, Development and Change 22, 121-178

O’BRIEN,B. (2008).The Role Of Non- government Organizations in Microfinance. Savings and Development, 32(1), 103-115

PITT, M. M., & KHANDKER, S. R. (1996). Household and intra household impact of the Grameen Bank and similar targeted credit programs in Bangladesh. The World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-3594-4

PITT, M. M., & KHANDKER, S. R. (1998). The impact of group-based credit programs on poor households in Bangladesh: Does the gender of participants matter?. Journal of political economy, 106(5), 958-996. https://doi.org/10.1086/250037

PITT, M. M., KHANDKER, S. R., MCKERNAN, S., & LATIF, M. A. (1995, April). Credit programs for the poor and reproductive behavior in low income countries: Are the reported causal relationships the result of heterogeneity bias?. In annual meeting of the Population Association of America, San Francisco.

PRIYADARSHEE, A., & GHALIB, A. K. (2012). Over-indebtedness, coercion, and default: Causes of the Andhra Pradesh microfinance crisis and regulatory implications. Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 23(3), 185-200. https://doi.org/10.3362/1755-1986.2012.020

QUANG NM. (7, January, 2019).Transparency Into Microfinance. Retrieved from https://www.hcp.fi/en/2016/06/07/transparency-into-microfinance/

ROBERTS, P., (2013). The Profit Orientation of Microfinance Institutions and Effective Interest Rates. World Development, 41, 120-131. Retrieved from http://dx. doi.org/ 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.022

ROODMAN D, MORDUCH J. (2009).The Impact of Microfinance on the Poor in Bangladesh: Revisiting the Evidence. Centre for Global Development (CGD) Working Paper No 174, Washington, D.C.

ROOYEN, C., R. STEWART, & T. DE WET. (2012). The impact of microfinance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review of the evidence. World Development, 40, 2249–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.03.012

ROSENBERG, R. (2007). CGAP reflections on the Compartamos initial public offering: A case study on microfinance interest rates and profits. Washington, D.C.: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor. Retrieved from http://www.cgap.org/publications/cgap-reflections-compartamos-initial-public-offering.

ROSENBERG, R., GONZALEZ, A., & NARAIN, S. (2009). The new moneylenders: are the poor being exploited by high microcredit interest rates?. In Moving beyond storytelling: Emerging research in microfinance (pp. 145-181). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

SANABEL MICROFINANCE NETWORK OF ARAB COUNTRIES. (2009). Microfinance Industry Profile: Jordan. Retrieved from https://www.findevgateway.org/library/microfinance-industry-profile-jordan

SAPP, M. (2006). Morgan Bond Marshals Big Money for Microfinance. Women's eNews, (June 13). Retrieved from http://www.arabic.microfinancegateway.org/sites/default/files/mfg-en-paper-microfinance-the-newest-financial-technology-of-the-washington-consensus-2007.pdf

SCHERVISH, P. G., & HERMAN, A. (1988). Empowerment and beneficence: Strategies of living and giving among the wealthy – Final report of the study on wealth and philanthropy. Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College, Social Welfare Research Institute.

SEKARAN, U., & BOUGIE, R. (2010). Research methods for business: Skill buildings approach (5th ed.). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd

SEKERAN,U. (2003). Research Methods For Business: A Skill Building Approaches (4 Ed). John Wiley & Sons, New York

SEN, A. K. (2000). Social Exclusion: Concept, Application, and Scrutiny. Manila: Office of Environment and Social Development, Asian Development Bank.

SMART CAMPAIGN (2019): The Client Protection Principles: October 2019 https://www.smartcampaign.org

SOLLI, J., GALINDO, L., RIZZI, A., RHYNE, E., & VAN DE WALLE, N. (2015). What Happens to Microfinance Clients Who Default? An Exploratory Study of Microfinance Practices, the Smart Campaign, Washington DC, January.

STRØM, R., D’ESPALLIER, B. & MERSLAND, R. (2014). Female leadership, performance, and governance in microfinance institutions. Journal of Banking & Finance, 42, 60-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2014.01.014

WARD, E. (2014). Microfinance in Jordan isn’t helping to empower women. The Guardian, August 20. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com

WEINBERG B. R. (2008). For-profit versus non-profit microfinance: How are the poor affected? University of North Texas. https://doi.org/10.12794/tef.2008.170

ZIKMUND,W.G., BABIN,B., CARR, J.,& GRIFFEN, M. (2010). Business Research Methods.Cengage Learning.

Downloads

Published

2019-11-15

How to Cite

Al Maaitah, N. . (2019). The Legitimacy of Profit of Microlending Institutions and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study from Jordan. Theory, Methodology, Practice – Review of Business and Management, 15(01), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.18096/TMP.2019.01.01