IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ris/badest/0572.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Microfinance Growth and Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh: What Does the Longitudinal Data Say?

Author

Listed:
  • Khandker, Shahidur R.

    (World Bank)

  • Samad, Hussain A.

    (World Bank)

Abstract

This study investigates the long-term effects of microcredit programs, which have been operating in rural Bangladesh for over 20 years, on household income, expenditure, and poverty. The analysis shows that continuous participation in microcredit programs has helped participant households earn higher income and consume more, thereby lifting many of them out of poverty. Our estimates suggest that poverty reduction, in particular the reduction of extreme poverty, due to microcredit intervention accounts for more than 10 percent of the total reduction in extreme poverty in rural Bangladesh over the 2000-2010 decade.

Suggested Citation

  • Khandker, Shahidur R. & Samad, Hussain A., 2014. "Microfinance Growth and Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh: What Does the Longitudinal Data Say?," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 37(1-2), pages 127-157, March-Jun.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:badest:0572
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://bids.org.bd/uploads/publication/BDS/37/37-1&2/7_Microfinance%20growth%20and%20Poverty%20reduction.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Panjaitan-Drioadisuryo, R.D.M. & Cloud, Kathleen, 1999. "Gender, self-employment and microcredit programs An Indonesian case study," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 769-779.
    2. Shaw, Judith, 2004. "Microenterprise Occupation and Poverty Reduction in Microfinance Programs: Evidence from Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1247-1264, July.
    3. Dean Karlan & Martin Valdivia, 2011. "Teaching Entrepreneurship: Impact of Business Training on Microfinance Clients and Institutions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 510-527, May.
    4. Angus Deaton, 2009. "Instruments of development: Randomization in the tropics, and the search for the elusive keys to economic development," Working Papers 1128, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing..
    5. Pitt, M.M. & Khandker, S.R., 1996. "Household and Intrahousehold Impact of the Grameen Bank and Similar Targeted Credit Programs in Bangladesh," World Bank - Discussion Papers 320, World Bank.
    6. Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2010. "Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(1), pages 433-464, January.
    7. Amin, Sajeda & Rai, Ashok S. & Topa, Giorgio, 2003. "Does microcredit reach the poor and vulnerable? Evidence from northern Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 59-82, February.
    8. David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2008. "Experimental Evidence on Returns to Capital and Access to Finance in Mexico," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 22(3), pages 457-482, November.
    9. Matthieu Chemin, 2008. "The Benefits and Costs of Microfinance: Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 463-484, April.
    10. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2008. "Who are the microenterprise owners ? Evidence from Sri Lanka on Tokman v. de Soto," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4635, The World Bank.
    11. Imai, Katsushi S. & Gaiha, Raghav & Thapa, Ganesh & Annim, Samuel Kobina, 2012. "Microfinance and Poverty—A Macro Perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1675-1689.
    12. Martin Ravallion, 2012. "Fighting Poverty One Experiment at a Time: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty : Review Essay," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 103-114, March.
    13. Khandker, Shahidur R. & Khalily, M. A. Baqui & Samad, Hussain A., 2010. "Seasonal and extreme poverty in Bangladesh : evaluating an ultra-poor microfinance project," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5331, The World Bank.
    14. Hossain, Mahabub, 1988. "Credit for alleviation of rural poverty: the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh," Research reports 65, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. M. Shahe Emran & Stephen C. Smith & Virginia Robano, 2009. "Assessing the Frontiers of Ultra-Poverty Reduction: Evidence from CFPR/TUP, an Innovative Program in Bangladesh," Working Papers 2009-06, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    16. Goetz, Anne Marie & Gupta, Rina Sen, 1996. "Who takes the credit? Gender, power, and control over loan use in rural credit programs in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 45-63, January.
    17. J. Copestake & S. Bhalotra & S. Johnson, 2001. "Assessing the Impact of Microcredit: A Zambian Case Study," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 81-100.
    18. Mark Pin & Shahidur Khandker & Signe-Mary Mckernan & M. Latif, 1999. "Credit programs for the poor and reproductive behavior in low-income countries: Are the reported causal relationships the result of heterogeneity bias?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(1), pages 1-21, February.
    19. Imai, Katsushi S. & Arun, Thankom & Annim, Samuel Kobina, 2010. "Microfinance and Household Poverty Reduction: New Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1760-1774, December.
    20. Rodrik, Dani, 2008. "The New Development Economics: We Shall Experiment, but How Shall We Learn?," Working Paper Series rwp08-055, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    21. Shahidur R. Khandker, 2005. "Microfinance and Poverty: Evidence Using Panel Data from Bangladesh," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 19(2), pages 263-286.
    22. Asadul Islam, 2011. "Medium- and Long-Term Participation in Microcredit: An Evaluation Using a New Panel Dataset from Bangladesh," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(3), pages 843-862.
    23. Niels Hermes & Robert Lensink, 2007. "The empirics of microfinance: what do we know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(517), pages 1-10, February.
    24. Pitt, Mark M & Khandker, Shahidur R & Cartwright, Jennifer, 2006. "Empowering Women with Micro Finance: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 791-831, July.
    25. Orazio Attanasio & Britta Augsburg & Ralph De Haas & Emla Fitzsimons & Heike Harmgart, 2011. "Group lending or individual lending? Evidence from a randomised field experiment in Mongolia," IFS Working Papers W11/20, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    26. Craig McIntosh, 2008. "Estimating Treatment Effects from Spatial Policy Experiments: An Application to Ugandan Microfinance," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 15-28, February.
    27. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton%20instruments%20of%20development%20keynes%20lecture%202009.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Kevane, Michael & Wydick, Bruce, 2001. "Microenterprise Lending to Female Entrepreneurs: Sacrificing Economic Growth for Poverty Alleviation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1225-1236, July.
    29. Coleman, Brett E., 1999. "The impact of group lending in Northeast Thailand," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 105-141, October.
    30. Coleman, Brett E., 2006. "Microfinance in Northeast Thailand: Who benefits and how much?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1612-1638, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jesmin Akhter & Kun Cheng, 2020. "Sustainable Empowerment Initiatives among Rural Women through Microcredit Borrowings in Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.
    2. S.M. Ashraf Hossain & Md. Ashikur Rahman, 2022. "The Impact of Microcredit on the Living Standard of Loan Takers: A Study in Naogaon District, Rajshahi," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(11), pages 266-270, November.
    3. Mathilde Maîtrot & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2017. "Poverty and wellbeing impacts of microfinance: What do we know?," WIDER Working Paper Series 190, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Hafiz Saqib Mehmood Najmi & Farrukh Bashir & Muhammad Zubair Zia, 2015. "Socioeconomic Impact of Microfinance on Borrowers: A Case Study of NRSP Bank Minchanabad," Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 3(1), pages 41-61, June.
    5. Khandker, Shahidur R. & Samad, Hussain A., 2013. "Are microcredit participants in Bangladesh trapped in poverty and debt ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6404, The World Bank.
    6. Khandker, Shahidur R & Samad, Hussain A, 2016. "Bangladesh’s Achievement in Poverty Reduction: The Role of Microfinance Revisited," Working Papers 114, JICA Research Institute.
    7. Juanita Salinas & Susana Sastre-Merino, 2021. "Social Capital as an Inclusion Tool from a Solidarity Finance Angle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-22, June.
    8. Woutersen, Tiemen & Khandker, Shahidur R., 2014. "Estimating the long-run impact of microcredit programs on household income and net worth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7040, The World Bank.
    9. Laila Arjuman Ara & Mohammad Masudur Rahman & Chanwahn Kim, 2020. "Impact of Microcredit on Second Generation Borrowers in Bangladesh: Revisited," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 21(1), pages 142-157, March.
    10. Asadul Islam & Debayan Pakrashi, 2014. "The Microcredit Puzzle: Labour Supply Behaviour of Rural Households in Bangladesh," Monash Economics Working Papers 24-14, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    11. Aroosa Khan & Muhammad Shaukat Malik, 2020. "Micro-Financing: A Comparative Study of Bangladesh & Pakistan," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 10(3), pages 181-202, September.
    12. Waqas Umar Latif & Sana Ullah & Wasim Ahmed & Muhammad Umar Sultan & Rana Muhammad Sohail Jafar & Muhammad Tariq & Wang Linping, 2020. "Microcredit and Economic Welfare: Experience of Poor Rural Households from Pakistan," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 976-997, August.
    13. Mathilde Maîtrot & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, 2017. "Poverty and wellbeing impacts of microfinance: What do we know?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-190, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Dan Brockington & Nicola Banks, 2014. "Exploring the Success of BRAC Tanzania’s Microcredit Programme," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 20214, GDI, The University of Manchester.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    2. Khandker, Shahidur R & Samad, Hussain A, 2016. "Bangladesh’s Achievement in Poverty Reduction: The Role of Microfinance Revisited," Working Papers 114, JICA Research Institute.
    3. Sefa K. Awaworyi, 2014. "The Impact of Microfinance Interventions: A Meta-analysis," Monash Economics Working Papers 03-14, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    4. Maren Duvendack & Richard Palmer-Jones, 2012. "High Noon for Microfinance Impact Evaluations: Re-investigating the Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(12), pages 1864-1880, December.
    5. Akotey, Joseph Oscar & Adjasi, Charles K.D., 2016. "Does Microcredit Increase Household Welfare in the Absence of Microinsurance?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 380-394.
    6. Hermes, Niels & Lensink, Robert, 2011. "Microfinance: Its Impact, Outreach, and Sustainability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 875-881, June.
    7. Waqas Umar Latif & Sana Ullah & Wasim Ahmed & Muhammad Umar Sultan & Rana Muhammad Sohail Jafar & Muhammad Tariq & Wang Linping, 2020. "Microcredit and Economic Welfare: Experience of Poor Rural Households from Pakistan," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 976-997, August.
    8. Duvendack, Maren & Palmer-Jones, Richard, 2011. "The microfinance of reproduction and the reproduction of microfinance: understanding the connections between microfinance, empowerment, contraception and fertility in Bangladesh in the 1990s," MPRA Paper 32384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. David McKenzie, 2010. "Impact Assessments in Finance and Private Sector Development: What Have We Learned and What Should We Learn?," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 25(2), pages 209-233, August.
    10. Dilruba Khanam & Muhammad Mohiuddin & Asadul Hoque & Olaf Weber, 2018. "Financing micro-entrepreneurs for poverty alleviation: a performance analysis of microfinance services offered by BRAC, ASA, and Proshika from Bangladesh," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, December.
    11. Chliova, Myrto & Brinckmann, Jan & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2015. "Is microcredit a blessing for the poor? A meta-analysis examining development outcomes and contextual considerations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 467-487.
    12. Islam, Asadul, 2015. "Heterogeneous effects of microcredit: Evidence from large-scale programs in Bangladesh," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 48-58.
    13. Asad K. Ghalib & Issam Malki & Katsushi S. Imai, 2012. "Microfinance and its role in household poverty reduction: findings from Pakistan," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 17312, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    14. Simon Zaby, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Microfinance: Influential Authors and Documents, 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-21, July.
    15. Rahul Nilakantan & Deepak Iyengar & Samar K. Datta & Shashank Rao, 2021. "On Ethical Violations in Microfinance Backed Small Businesses: Family and Household Welfare," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(4), pages 785-802, September.
    16. Ambreen Khursheed, 2022. "Exploring the role of microfinance in women’s empowerment and entrepreneurial development: a qualitative study," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    17. Cho, Yoonyoung & Honorati, Maddalena, 2014. "Entrepreneurship programs in developing countries: A meta regression analysis," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 110-130.
    18. Khan, Md Faisal Abedin & Uddin, Md Sazib & Giessen, Lukas, 2021. "Microcredit expansion and informal donor interests: Experiences from local NGOs in the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, Bangladesh," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    19. Olga Gorelkina & Ioanna Grypari & Erin Hengel, 2019. "One strike and you’re out! The Master Lever’s effect on senatorial policy-making," Working Papers 201906, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    20. Dan Brockington & Nicola Banks, 2014. "Exploring the Success of BRAC Tanzania’s Microcredit Programme," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 20214, GDI, The University of Manchester.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microfinance; Poverty; Bangladesh;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ris:badest:0572. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Meftaur Rahman, Cheif Publication Officer, BIDS (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bidssbd.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.