ABSTRACT

We investigate the impact of Baobab Microfinance Company (BMC) loans on poverty and economic empowerment of female clients using a mixed methods approach. Using a sample of 411 BMC clients, we find in some cases, relative lower poverty and higher economic empowerment for clients with a higher frequency of loans compared to those with a lower frequency of loans. An implication is that the marginal impact of loans across different loan cycles is U-shaped rather than linear and has a short-term impact on clients. Furthermore, our qualitative results suggest that loans help women lower poverty and become economically empowered.

中文翻译：

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小额信贷、妇女经济赋权和贫困：以猴面包树小额信贷公司为例

摘要

我们使用混合方法调查 Baobab 小额信贷公司 (BMC) 贷款对贫困和女性客户经济赋权的影响。使用 411 名 BMC 客户的样本，我们发现在某些情况下，与贷款频率较低的客户相比，贷款频率较高的客户的贫困程度和经济赋权程度相对较低。一个暗示是，不同贷款周期的贷款的边际影响是 U 形而不是线性的，并且对客户有短期影响。此外，我们的定性结果表明，贷款有助于女性降低贫困并增强经济能力。