Readings
In case you miss downloading the recommended readings at the end of each lesson, here they are again:
- Lesson 1 - Microfinance: what's it all about?
V.Mahajan, Is Microcredit the Answer to Poverty Eradication? 2000. 
T.Dichter, Hype and Hope: The Worrisome State of the Microcredit Movement, 2005 H.D.Seibel, Does history matter? The old and new world of microfinance in Europe and Asia, 2005 Back to top - Lesson 2 - What's wrong with government credit schemes?
J.Yaron et al., Rural Finance: Issues, Design and Best Practices: Part One, World Bank 1997 E.Coffey, Agricultural Finance: Getting the Policies Right: Part One, FAO 1998 H.D.Seibel, From Cheap Credit to Easy Money: How to Undermine Rural Finance and Development, 1994 Back to top - Lesson 3 - The importance of savings
S.Rutherford, A Critical Typology of Financial Services for the Poor: Section 1, 1996 S.Rutherford, The Economics of Poverty: How Poor People Manage Their Money, 2000 R.Goodwin-Groen, Success in rural savings: How one donor led the way, CGAP 2003 Back to top - Lesson 4 - The financial reality of business enterprise
The group enterprise resource book - Extract from Part 3: Managing the Business, FAO 1995 R.Hernández & G.Herrerías, Accounting is a Kid's Game - Introduction to the Dynamics of Financial Statements, ADA/Alternativas 1998/2006. (Please note this is a large file: 2.1MB) Back to top - Lesson 5 - Collecting and analysing financial information from micro enterprises
L.Daniels, A guide to measuring microenterprise profits and net worth, from Small Enterprise Development Vol. 12, No.4, 2001 M.Harper, How to find out what small businesses need: An edited extract from Consultancy for Small Businesses, ITDG Publishing 1977 J.Sebstad & M.Cohen, Financial Education for the Poor, Microfinance Opportunities 2003 Back to top - Lesson 6 - Can they afford to borrow? Rates of return and the cost of money
R.P.Goodwin Groen, Making Sense of Microcredit Interest Rates, CGAP Donor Brief 6 2002 M.Harper, Farm credit and microfinance - is there a critical mismatch? from SED Vol.16, No.3, 2005 N.Fernando, Understanding and Dealing with High Interest Rates on Microcredit, ADB 2006 Back to top - Lesson 7 - Understanding the accounts of financial service providers
J.Ledgerwood & K.Moloney, The Balance Sheet: Lesson 2 from Accounting for MFIs, Calmeadow 1996 J.Ledgerwood & K.Moloney, The Income Statement: Lesson 3 from Accounting for MFIs, Calmeadow 1996 J.Ledgerwood, Viability of a Microfinance Organization: Lesson 4 from Finance for MFIs, Calmeadow 1996 Back to top - Lesson 8 - Financial service providers and the law
J.Ledgerwood, Microfinance Handbook: Chapter 4 The Institution, The World Bank 1999 The Credit Union Difference, WOCCU 2005 M.Brownbridge, C.Kirkpatrick & S.M.Maimbo, Prudential Regulation, IDPM, University of Manchester 2002 Back to top - Lesson 9 - Doing without subsidy - financial planning for small microfinance providers
E.Rhyne, The Yin and Yang of Microfinance: Reaching the Poor and Sustainability, from the MicroBanking Bulletin 1998 J.Morduch, Smart Subsidy for Sustainable Microfinance, from Finance for the Poor Vol. 6, No.4, ADB 2005 M.Hudon, Subsidies and financial performances of the microfinance institutions: does management matter? Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) 2006 Back to top - Lesson 10 - Managing arrears and defaults
R.Rosenberg, Measuring Microcredit Delinquency: Ratios Can Be Harmful to Your Health, CGAP Occasional Paper No.3, 1999 D.Norell, How to Reduce Arrears in Microfinance Institutions, from the Journal of Microfinance Vol.3 No.1, 2001 D.von Stauffenberg, T.Jansson, N.Kenyon & M.Barluenga-Badiola, Performance Indicators for Microfinance Institutions: A Technical Guide pp 5-14 - Portfolio Quality, MicroRate & IADB 2003 Back to top - Lesson 11 - Using and promoting groups
S.Rutherford, The Poor and Their Money Ch 5: Promoters and Providers, OUP 2000 H.Allen, Village Savings and Loans Associations - sustainable and cost-effective rural finance, from SED Vol.17 No.1 2006 M.Harper, Grameen Bank Groups and Self Help Groups: What are the Differences? 2002 S.Babu and A.Singh, The Need for Individual Lending in Mature MFIs, from Eye on Micro Finance No.4 2007 Back to top - Lesson 12 - Commercial success or social concern? The microfinance dilemma
D.Hulme, Is microdebt good for poor people? A note on the dark side of microfinance, from SED Vol.11, No.1, 2000 Financial Sustainability, Targeting the Poorest and Income Impact: Are There Trade-offs for Microfinance Institutions?, CGAP Focus Note No.5, 1996 J.Copestake, Towards a general framework for client monitoring within microfinance organisations, Imp-Act Guideline No.3, IDS 2001 Back to top - Lesson 13 - Adopting a client-driven approach
D.Cracknell, Signposts to the provision of Market Led Micro-financial Services, MicroSave Briefing Note No.18 K.Pawlak, Client-Focused Microfinance: A Review of Information Sources, MicroSave Briefing Note No.17 G.A.N.Wright, Market Research and Client-Responsive Product Development, MicroSave R.Brott, I.Murray, I.Rueda & A.Torrico, How Client Assessment is Making a Difference at CRECER, SEEP Network 2006 Back to top - Lesson 14 - Taking gender into account
N.Kabeer, Is Microfinance a 'Magic Bullet' for Women's Empowerment? Economic and Political Weekly Oct 29, 2005 I.Mutalima, Microfinance and Gender Equality: Are We Getting There? Microcredit Summit Campaign 2006 T.Kay, Empowering Women through Self-help Microcredit Programmes, Bulletin on Asia-Pacific Perspectives pp 69-78, 2002/03 A.Nippierd, Gender Issues in Cooperatives, Journal of Co-operative Studies Vol. 32:3, 1999 Back to top - Lesson 15 - Can commercial banks "do" microfinance?
M.Harper and S.S.Arora (eds), Small Customers, Big Market: Commercial Banks in Microfinance: pp 275 - 293 Conclusions, ITDG Publishing 2005 J.Isern and D.Porteous, Commercial Banks and Microfinance: Evolving Models of Success, CGAP 2005 M.Harper and M.Kirsten, ICICI Bank and its Partnership Linkages in India, FAO 2005 Back to top