IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/diw/diwvjh/81-3-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mikrofinanzierung: Motor für Beschäftigung oder Ersatz für soziale Sicherungsnetze?

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Schrader
  • Eva Terberger

Abstract

What can microfinance contribute to the creation of employment and the increase in well-being of the population? We argue that microfinance has an important benefit for the poor, particularly for subsistence entrepreneurs, as a means of handling shocks and smoothing income. By helping to assure a minimum standard of living on the subsistence level, microfinance partly assumes the functions that in developed economies are provided by social safety nets. A microfinance initiated large scale transformation of poor people into successful entrepreneurs creating small or even medium sized enterprises, however, is not likely to take place, neither in developing nor in industrialised economies. To foster entrepreneurship and to bridge the gap between subsistence activities and prospering enterprise-a gap which is particularly prominent in developing countries due to the high share of the informal economy-microfinance is only part of the solution. Improving the business environment, facilitating the formalisation of unregistered enterprise, and, last but not least, access to better education and vocational training are of equal importance to spur firms' growth and employment creation. Was kann Mikrofinanzierung zu Beschäftigungswachstum und Steigerung des Einkommens ärmerer Bevölkerungsschichten beitragen? Existierende Evidenz, die hier zusammengetragen wird, erlaubt keine erschöpfende Antwort, doch deuten zahlreiche Indizien darauf hin, dass Mikrofinanzierung in Entwicklungsländern breiten Bevölkerungsschichten, die auf dem Subsistenzniveau leben, dabei hilft, mit Einkommensschocks umzugehen und ihren Konsum zu glätten. In Industrieländern dagegen erfolgt die Abfederung von Schocks für untere Einkommensschichten vor allem über soziale Sicherungsnetze. Weder in Entwicklungsländern noch in Industrieländern wird es allein durch den Zugang zu Mikrofinanzierung gelingen, maßgebliche Teile der ärmeren Bevölkerung zu erfolgreichen Unternehmern zu machen, die Subsistenzunternehmen in kleine oder gar mittlere Unternehmen mit zahlreichen neuen Arbeitsplätzen transformieren. Bei der Überwindung der Kluft zwischen Subsistenzwirtschaft und Unternehmen mit Wachstumspotential, die in Entwicklungsländern durch den hohen Anteil des informellen Sektors verschärft wird, spielt der von Mikrofinanzinstitutionen geschaffene Zugang zu Finanzierung zwar eine wichtige Rolle. Rechtliche und institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen, die eine Formalisierung der Unternehmen und die Ausbildung der Bevölkerung fördern, sind jedoch für das Wachstum von Unternehmen und die Schaffung von Arbeitsplätzen gleichermaßen wichtig.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Schrader & Eva Terberger, 2012. "Mikrofinanzierung: Motor für Beschäftigung oder Ersatz für soziale Sicherungsnetze?," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 81(3), pages 45-60.
  • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwvjh:81-3-5
    DOI: 10.3790/vjh.81.3.45
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3790/vjh.81.3.45
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3790/vjh.81.3.45?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Neumark & Brandon Wall & Junfu Zhang, 2008. "Do Small Businesses Create More Jobs? New Evidence from the National Establishment Time Series," NBER Working Papers 13818, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Davis, Steven J & Haltiwanger, John & Schuh, Scott, 1996. "Small Business and Job Creation: Dissecting the Myth and Reassessing the Facts," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 297-315, August.
    3. Levine, Ross, 2002. "Bank-Based or Market-Based Financial Systems: Which Is Better?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 398-428, October.
    4. David Neumark & Brandon Wall & Junfu Zhang, 2011. "Do Small Businesses Create More Jobs? New Evidence for the United States from the National Establishment Time Series," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 16-29, August.
    5. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2008. "How Important Are Financing Constraints? The Role of Finance in the Business Environment," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 22(3), pages 483-516, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Nikolaj Malchow-Møller & Bertel Schjerning & Anders Sørensen, 2011. "Entrepreneurship, job creation and wage growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 15-32, January.
    2. Haunschild, Ljuba & May-Strobl, Eva, 2009. "Arbeitsplatzdynamik und nachhaltige Beschäftigungswirkungen in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen: Eine empirische Untersuchung auf Basis des Umsatzsteuerpanels für die Jahre 2001 bis 2005," Working Papers 06/09, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    3. Majumdar, Sumit K., 2015. "Competitor entry impact on jobs and wages in incumbent firms: retrospective evidence from a natural experiment," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 291-326, August.
    4. Luz Adriana Flórez & Leonardo Morales Z & Daniel Medina & José Lobo C, 2017. "Labour flows across firm´s size, economic sectors and wages in Colombia: evidence from employer-employee linked panel," Borradores de Economia 1013, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    5. De-Chih Liu, 2013. "Small business job creation hypothesis in Taiwan," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1459-1492, April.
    6. William Gale & Samuel Brown, 2013. "Small Business, Innovation, and Tax Policy: A Review," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(4), pages 871-892, December.
    7. Cristina Fernández & Roberta García & Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Benedicta Marzinotto & Roberta Serafini & Juuso Vanhala & Ladislav Wintr, 2017. "Firm growth in Europe: An overview based on the COMPNET labour module," BCL working papers 107, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    8. Fougère, D. & Golfier, C. & Horny, G. & Kremp, E., 2013. "What has been the impact of the 2008 crisis on firms’ default? (in French)," Working papers 463, Banque de France.
    9. Aghion, Philippe & Akcigit, Ufuk & Howitt, Peter, 2014. "What Do We Learn From Schumpeterian Growth Theory?," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 515-563, Elsevier.
    10. Bögenhold, Dieter & Fachinger, Uwe, 2012. "Unternehmertum: Unterschiedliche Facetten selbstständiger Berufstätigkeit [Entrepreneurship: Diverse aspects of self-employment]," MPRA Paper 51459, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Falilou Fall & Christine Lewis, 2017. "Fostering Productivity for Income Convergence in the Czech Republic," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1362, OECD Publishing.
    12. Márton Gosztonyi & Csákné Filep Judit, 2022. "Profiling (Non-)Nascent Entrepreneurs in Hungary Based on Machine Learning Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Fornaro, Paolo & Luomaranta, Henri, 2015. "Small Versus Large Firms Employment Patterns in Finland: a Comparison," MPRA Paper 66979, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Andrew Kerr & Martin Wittenberg & Jairo Arrow, 2014. "Job Creation and Destruction in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 82(1), pages 1-18, March.
    15. Lawless, Martina, 2013. "Age or Size? Determinants of Job Creation," Research Technical Papers 02/RT/13, Central Bank of Ireland.
    16. World Bank, 2010. "Scaling-Up SME Access to Financial Services," World Bank Publications - Reports 12515, The World Bank Group.
    17. Mthanti, Thanti & Ojah, Kalu, 2017. "Institutions, Human Capital and Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO): Implications for Growth Strategy," MPRA Paper 89551, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Richard G Funderburg & Xiaoxue Zhou, 2013. "Trading Industry Clusters amid the Legacy of Industrial Land-Use Planning in Southern California," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(11), pages 2752-2770, November.
    19. Chiara Criscuolo & Peter N. Gal & Carlo Menon, 2014. "The Dynamics of Employment Growth: New Evidence from 18 Countries," CEP Discussion Papers dp1274, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    20. Marco Corsino & Roberto Gabriele & Sandro Trento, 2010. "Job flows in Italian SMEs: a longitudinal analysis of growth, size and age," DISA Working Papers 1008, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, University of Trento, Italy, revised 22 Dec 2010.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mikrofinanzierung; Beschäftigungswirkungen; informeller Sektor; soziale Netze; Industrieländer; Entwicklungsländer;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • 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:diw:diwvjh:81-3-5. 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: Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/diwbede.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.