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Impacts of Savings and Credit Union Programs on Household Welfare in Laos: Case Study of the Vientiane Vicinity during the mid-2000s

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  • Sengsourivong, Kongpasa
  • Mieno, Fumiharu

Abstract

Based on original household survey on the six villages in Vientiane vicinity in 2005, the paper investigates the impact of Savings and Credit Union (SCU) programs on household income, expenditure and asset, applying the methodology of Coleman's (1999) study on Thailand to address placement bias and endogeneity problem. The results revealed that SCU programs brought certain changes; SCUs boosted educational expenditures implying activation of human capital formation, increased the house asset suggesting villagers' investment reflected by possible business activation, and brought a possible shift in income sources from traditional agriculture to livestock raising. The paper interprets these results different from Coleman's (1999) in two possible ways; First the Laotian case is to an extent, free from a bias associated with seed capital allocation, therefore is more suitable to capture the effect than Thailand, and second it is since the stage of financial accessibility in Laos is far less developed than in Thailand.

Suggested Citation

  • Sengsourivong, Kongpasa & Mieno, Fumiharu, 2014. "Impacts of Savings and Credit Union Programs on Household Welfare in Laos: Case Study of the Vientiane Vicinity during the mid-2000s," PRIMCED Discussion Paper Series 55, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:primdp:55
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    File URL: https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/26707/No55-dp.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
    2. Signe-Mary McKernan, 2002. "The Impact Of Microcredit Programs On Self-Employment Profits: Do Noncredit Program Aspects Matter?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 93-115, February.
    3. repec:pri:rpdevs:morduch_microfinance_poor is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Coleman, Brett E., 1999. "The impact of group lending in Northeast Thailand," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 105-141, October.
    5. Shahidur Khandker & Hussain Samad & Zahed Khan, 1998. "Income and employment effects of micro-credit programmes: Village-level evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 96-124.
    6. 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.
    7. Jonathan Morduch, 1998. "Does Microfinance Really Help the Poor? New Evidence from Flagship Programs in Bangladesh," Working Papers 198, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    8. P. Mosley, 2001. "Microfinance and Poverty in Bolivia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 101-132.
    9. Mieno, Fumiharu & Chaleunsinh, Chansathith, 2014. "Function of Savings and Credit Unions in Laos: From a Village-SCU Survey in Vientiane Vicinity," PRIMCED Discussion Paper Series 52, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    10. Mark M. Pitt & Shahidur R. Khandker, 1998. "The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(5), pages 958-996, October.
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