Abstract

Microfinance institutions traditionally focus on the provision of credit and other financial services. In light of recent evidence on the scant transformative effects of ‘standard’ microcredit models, however, some lenders are increasing efforts to offer additional non-financial services – such as business trainings and technical assistance. While literature on the effects of business trainings is quite voluminous, far less attention has been paid to microcredit in combination with technical assistance, especially salient in rural contexts. This study investigates a programme launched by Sembrar Sartawi, a Bolivian MFI, which complemented dairy farming credit with the provision of agronomic and veterinarian expertise. We collect data of approximately 600 dairy farmers from the Bolivian plateau over two data-collection waves, and conduct a variety of cross-sectional and panel regression analyses. We find that technical assistance has positive, statistically significant, and economically salient impacts on monthly revenues and milk production. Our study strongly suggests that providing access to technical assistance can be a very effective ‘plus’ instrument for MFIs providing financial services to rural clients. We also point at the importance of conducting further research related to cost-effectiveness, to assess whether MFIs may expand technical assistance and at the same time achieve self-sustainability.

摘要

小额信贷机构传统上专注于提供信贷和其他金融服务。然而，鉴于最近有证据表明“标准”小额信贷模式的变革影响甚微，一些贷方正在加大力度提供额外的非金融服务——例如商业培训和技术援助。虽然关于商业培训效果的文献非常多，但对小额信贷与技术援助相结合的关注却少得多，尤其是在农村环境中尤为突出。本研究调查了玻利维亚小额信贷机构 Sembrar Sartawi 发起的一项计划，该计划通过提供农艺和兽医专业知识来补充奶牛养殖信贷。我们通过两次数据收集波从玻利维亚高原收集了大约 600 名奶农的数据，并进行各种横截面和面板回归分析。我们发现，技术援助对月收入和牛奶产量具有积极的、具有统计意义的和显着的经济影响。我们的研究强烈表明，对于向农村客户提供金融服务的小额信贷机构来说，提供技术援助可能是一种非常有效的“附加”工具。我们还指出进行与成本效益相关的进一步研究的重要性，以评估小额信贷机构是否可以扩大技术援助并同时实现自我可持续性。我们的研究强烈表明，对于向农村客户提供金融服务的小额信贷机构来说，提供技术援助可能是一种非常有效的“附加”工具。我们还指出进行与成本效益相关的进一步研究的重要性，以评估小额信贷机构是否可以扩大技术援助并同时实现自我可持续性。我们的研究强烈表明，对于向农村客户提供金融服务的小额信贷机构来说，提供技术援助可能是一种非常有效的“附加”工具。我们还指出进行与成本效益相关的进一步研究的重要性，以评估小额信贷机构是否可以扩大技术援助并同时实现自我可持续性。