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1. Breaking the Bonds of Poverty: Effectiveness of Microcredit in Improving the Wellbeing of Brick Kilns’ Laborers in Pakistan

Author:
Jafar Riaz Kataria, Ahmed Usman, Shabbir Hussain, Muhammad Usman, and Aaisha Amjad
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
South Asian Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
This study examines the effectiveness of microcredit to enhance family income, eradicate peshgi and improve the wellbeing of brick kiln laborers. A survey was carried out to determine the effectiveness of microcredit among laborers working at brick kilns located in Lahore and Kasur districts. Linear regression analysis was run at 418 cases to track patterns in the data. The results of study indicated that microcredit significantly increased the family income, eradicated peshgi and improved the wellbeing of borrowers. Furthermore, segregated data indicated that female, married, aged, illiterate, beneficiaries having 6 and above children, beneficiaries having 9 and above family members, family income more than 20001, family expenditures more than 20001, beneficiaries who consulted their families and repeaters experienced higher benefits of microcredit scheme. The researchers recommend increasing the microcredit access to the poor people living in urban slums and rural areas, where the facility of formal lending institutions is lower and people are forced to take peshgi (advance) for meeting their basic needs.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Labor Issues, and Microcredit
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, and Punjab

2. Finding the Money: Informal Credit Practices in Rural Afghanistan

Author:
Floortje Klijin and Adam Pain
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
It is widely believed that there is a strong demand for credit in Afghanistan and that much of this demand is unmet, justifying a major programme in microcredit provision. But there is very little understanding of the extent and the workings of informal credit systems, particularly outside opium poppy growing areas. Is there such an absence of credit available to poor rural households as is assumed? Do microfinance and informal credit respond to the same needs? Is informal credit simply the same thing as formal credit, except that it takes place outside formal institutions? And if there is more informal credit available than is believed, what does this mean for the development and role of formal credit systems? These key questions informed a detailed anthropological study of informal credit practices in three contrasting villages in Herat, Ghor and Kapisa. Drawing from a detailed presentation of eight households case studies, and amplified with addition case material, a number of key conclusions can be drawn from the findings.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Monetary Policy, Microcredit, Rural, Money, Demand, and Credit
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and South Asia