This paper describes how to do equipment finance--leasing and lending--for mainstream microentrepreneurs, that is, for those microentrepreneurs needing approximately $50 to $2500 to purchase equipment. Specifically, this paper examines the pros and cons of the two major financing alternatives,...

The current study gathers together a large database on the funding side of Latin American microfinance institutions (MFIs), providing detailed coverage of 61 regulated MFIs in nine Latin American countries with major microfinance markets. The study goes on to examine the relative costs of the...

This paper examines each major element of the village banking technology and how it has been liberalized so far, particularly in four leading Latin American village banking institutions: FINCA Nicaragua, Pro Mujer Bolivia, Compartamos (in Mexico), and CRECER (in Bolivia). It then analyzes how...

This paper presents a conceptual framework for explaining Credit Unions (CUs) loan delinquency and profitability in developing countries. It also offers an empirical estimation for a unique sample of CUs in Latin America.

Banks are increasingly entering into microfinance, and donors such as the IDB are increasingly helping them to do so. Despite this trend, banks continue to make a number of common mistakes in attempting to serve the microenterprise sector. A key to successfully serving this sector is to follow...

The Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ) was originally set up for three years as a time-bound pilot initiative. The OMJ team has worked diligently to test the Base of the Pyramid model and develop the OMJ portfolio, and from that standpoint the initiative has been successful....

This evaluation reviews the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the IDB's Program with Ecuador for 2007-2011. The period was characterized by an important political and institutional shift in Ecuador, embodied in the new Constitution of September 2008. Working within the framework...

The objectives of the evaluation are to assess Opportunities for the Majority (OMJ)'s relevance vis-à-vis its mandate, its effectiveness in achieving development goals, its efficiency in delivering products, and the sustainability of both projects and the "business model" supported by the...

This background paper assesses the actions of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB, or Bank) related to private sector development (PSD) that were mandated under the Ninth General Capital Increase in Resources (IDB-9). It finds that Management has taken the necessary formal steps to address...

The evaluation of the effectiveness of SME-oriented projects has gained particular relevance in recent years, as they have been used as an instrument to help achieve IDB's strategic goals, defined by the IDB's Ninth General Capital Increase (IDB-9) mandate, such as poverty reduction and...