ABSTRACT This paper investigates the discourse of key actors instigating institutional change in the Zambian microfinance sector. It draws from the institutional story of Zambia, which has experienced regulatory and legislative flux since drafting its first microfinance act in 2006. Building on the ideas of discursive institutionalism and interviews with key stakeholders, it identifies three levels of discourse (ideas) that explain institutional change: policy, programmatic and philosophical. It highlights how ill-conceived discourse at a policy level shapes practices of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and ultimately challenge their worldviews, offering a cautious tale of institutional change in Zambia. More broadly, it discusses the implications of using discourse to understand institutional change in sub-Saharan Africa and offers an opposing cautious narrative to many of the successful microfinance stories on the continent which tend to dominate the literature.

中文翻译：

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赞比亚小额信贷部门的体制变革

摘要本文研究了促使赞比亚小额信贷部门体制变革的主要行为者的话语。它取材自赞比亚的机构故事，该赞比亚自2006年起草第一笔小额信贷法案以来经历了监管和立法上的变化。它基于话语制度主义的思想和与主要利益相关者的访谈，确定了解释制度的三个层次的话语（思想）。变化：政策，程序和哲学。它强调了在政策层面上构思不当的话语如何影响小额信贷机构的做法，并最终挑战其世界观，从而为赞比亚的体制变革提供了谨慎的故事。更广泛地，