This paper provides a brief but comprehensive overview of microfinance academic literature with emphasis on recent innovations, trends and efficiency. In particular, we focus on controversial issues of microfinance, such as commercialization, regulation, interest rate policy and the balance...

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) finance their business activities primary with clients’ deposits, equity or with external funding. The aim of our thesis is to determine whether macroeconomic development and the size of banking sector affect the range of external funding and consequently the...

This paper investigates the possible reasons why many microfinance institutions (MFIs) have gradually experienced a decrease in the share of female borrowers in their portfolios over the last few years. We confirm that the share of women may be decreasing due to the growing dependence of the...

Paper analyzes the Czech social security and tax system as their redistribution aspects are concerned. On a basis of individual data, authors find that social security programs are usually properly targeted but that the tax breaks favor richer households. A microanalysis of tax expenditures is...

The article describes the system of state social support vis-?-vis personal income tax. The author shows that both systems have structural weaknesses that may be addressed by a better coordination of both systems' main principles.

This paper considers the legitimacy, scope and purposes of redistribution in Czech society. The authors use data from international surveys from the mid-nineties onward, as well as several national Czech surveys. The authors claim that Czech society does not favor extensive redistribution in...

The study is focused on macroeconomic stability of the Czech economy. The first part (methodological) stems from the system of national accounting which offers two approaches: from the point of view of relationship between domestic supply and demand and between savings and investments....