This paper sets out to examine the apparent consensus around microfinance as a tool to address poverty and social exclusion in North and South. The current emphasis on scale and sustainability in Southern microfinance practice fits the 'counter revolution' in development thought but contrasts...

This paper looks at changes in hourly wages and hours worked per week of prime-age males in different skill groups (measured by earnings quintile) in the United States and Canada from 1981 to 1997. The analysis reveals that increases in hourly wage inequality are primarily responsible for...

This paper provides evidence that cyclical unemployment is associated with increased income inequality in Canada. The empirical results reinforce the recent findings of Erksoy (1981-1987). Erksoy used a dynamic micro-simulation to model the period from 1981 to 1987. In contrast to his work, my...

In the first part of this paper a union membership stock-flow growth accounting identity provides detailed descriptions of the impact of 'legal' and 'economic' factors on union density in Canada and the U.S. private sector. In the second part simulations are used to explore the impact of one...

Policy emphasis has recently shifted to 'Finance for All' given evidence that financial sector development contributes to growth but effects on poverty do not arise from pro-poor provision. We argue that, given this policy goal, analyses of barriers to access must be country specific and go...

Over the past five years, “peer-to-peer†lending websites have become a new approach to mobilizing funds for on-lending to impoverished people in developing countries (microfinance) and domestic markets. In this paper, the authors review these developments and use the analytical lens...

Policy towards microfinance has undergone a shift away from building financial institutions focused on serving poor people to an "inclusive" agenda for financial sector development, operationalized by some donors in an approach entitled "Making Markets Work for the Poor". This approach is...