Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Grameen Bank Model (Bangladesh)'

Among the reasons for financial exclusion is the fact that the poor, being largely illiterate and unemployed, are traditionally perceived as ‘bad credit risks’. This is the dominant perception of the poor in the formal credit markets – a perception that also exists in the microcredit sector. In other words, while information asymmetry is a recognized problem in lender-borrower relationships, lenders consider the problem particularly severe when they contemplate doing business with the poor. A contrasting paradigm, such as the one adopted by Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, views the poor as possessing economic potentials that have not been tapped – that is, as ‘good credit risks’. Grameen Bank’s microcredit features appear to have successfully mitigated the problems of information asymmetry and, to a large extent, made it possible for the poor to access microenterprise credit. Using the Grameen Bank model as a benchmark, this study examined the lending features of private sector microlenders in South Africa and those of KhulaStart (credit) scheme. The aim was to identify how the lending features affect microenterprise credit access. Primary data were obtained through interviews, while relevant secondary data were also used in the study. A key finding of the study was that while the Khulastart scheme was, like Grameencredit, targeted at the poor, the method of its delivery appeared diluted or unduly influenced by the conventional (private sector) paradigm that pre-classifies people as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ credit risks. As a result, the scheme was not robust enough to support microenterprise credit access. This has consequences for job-creation and poverty reduction. Based on the findings, the study maintains that a realistic broadening of microenterprise credit access will not occur unless there is a fundamental paradigm shift in microcredit practices, and unless measures designed to mitigate information asymmetries are sensitive to the historical, economic and sociocultural realities of the South African poor.

Vi undersöker i denna studie en organisation, Grameen Bank, och vill på så vis upplysa om ett problem i världen. Det finns många hjälporganisationer som hjälper fattiga och utsatta länder men för att en bättre infrastruktur ska kunna etableras i u-länder krävs även nya metoder så att nya entreprenörer kan etablera sig på marknaden. Muhammad Yunus är en entreprenör, han skapade Grameen Bank i Bangladesh för att hjälpa den fattiga befolkningen att utvecklas och förbättra levnadsstandarden genom att låta dem ta mikrolån. Studiens syfte:  Undersöka hur Grameen Bankens organisation fungerar  Ta reda på Grameen Bankens syfte, mål och vision  Undersöka faktorer som påverkar Grameen Bankens effektivitet och utveckling
The purpose of this study is to analyze an organisation, Grameen Bank, and illustrate a relevant problem in the world. There are plenty of aid organizations that help countries, but to enable the build-up of an infrastructure, new methods are required that help the establishment of new entrepreneurs. Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to help the poor population to develop and enhance their living standards by lending them micro loans. The purpose of this study:  Investigate how the organisation of Grameen Bank works  Acquire the purpose, goal and vision of Grameen Bank  Investigate the factors that influence the efficiency and development of Grameen Bank

In course of time the role of the individual being has become increasingly important in the fight against poverty. Through its microcredit programmes, the organization Grameen Bank offers “aid to self-help” to poor women on the countryside in Bangladesh. The purpose of this essay is to investigate how participation in Grameen’s microcredit programmes can affect these women’s social situation and working situation. In order to achieve the purpose the following questions have been formulated: How does microcredit affect women’s self-esteem, influence in the household, and exposure to domestic violence? How does microcredit affect women’s occupational situation, to what extent do they have control over their loans, and how is microcredit regarded in comparison with permanent jobs, as a way to reduce poverty?

The research, which has been carried out as a qualitative text analysis, shows that Grameen plays an important role when it comes to improving women’s living conditions. The access to microcredit helps women increasing their working activity as well as their self-esteem and influence in the household. However, microcredit does not merely create positive consequences. There are cases where microcredit increases the risk of domestic violence. Often the loans are transferred within the household, and then controlled by men. In addition, women’s use of microcredit is still confined to activities traditionally performed by women. These factors are important to consider when evaluating Grameen’s programmes, since they counteract Grameen’s vision of creating development for women.

Microfinance and micro credits are concepts that are used frequently when talking about poverty reducing actions. This paper is a case study of the poverty alleviation impacts of microfinance institutions and it contrasts the effects of Grameen Bank and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) operating in Bangladesh. The case study examines the organisations effects in the 21st century since most of the reports have compared the effects in the past not reflecting on future conditions. The questions at issue are if Grameen Bank and BRAC can affect the poverty status of its members in a positive way and if there is a positive effect, which of the approaches are the best to use? To analyse the non monetary dimension, concepts such as health and education has been used as indicators for poverty reduction and the monetary indicator used is income through employment. Simultaneously economic models and concepts have been considered throughout the paper.

The findings of this case study implied that both organisations have positive effects on reducing poverty among its members, but BRAC has the broadest view seeing to all factors investigated and therefore its approach is the best to use. Nevertheless, as previous studies have implied sustainability and cost-effectiveness within the microfinance programme is important for the long-run poverty reduction. Evaluating the economic performance of the two organisations Grameen Bank is more efficient in using its resources than BRAC, but Grameen Bank show a decreasing rate of efficiency while BRAC is improving significantly. With this in consideration BRAC is still showing the best poverty reducing result for its members today, but if the organisation does not find a way to improve its economical performance its actions will not be sustainable in the long run.

A2161

Bangladesh har 120 miljoner innevånare och minst 50% av dessa lever i mycket svår

fattigdom. Grameen bank är en av de institutioner som försöker ändra på detta. Genom att

låna ut små summer utan krav på säkerhet ger man även de fattigaste en chans att förbättra

sina liv. 94 % av Grameen banks låntagare är kvinnor – vilket är ovanligt per se - men särskilt

ovanligt i ett så patriarkaliskt samhälle som Bangladesh där det för 10-15 år sedan hade varit

helt otänkbart. Även om det har skett stora förändringar under de senaste åren - framför allt i

städerna - så har kvinnorna i Bangladesh fortfarande en mycket underordnad roll, vilket har

sin grund i islam och de regler som finns för hur en kvinna ska bete sig. Kvinnan ses som en

andra klassens medborgare som betraktas som fruar, mödrar eller döttrar – inte som egna

individer. Det ses också som en statusförlust för familjen att kvinnan ska arbeta utanför

hemmet.

Vi har studerat vilka effekter lån från Grameen bank kan få för den enskilda individens

livssituation genom att intervjua fyra kvinnor i Bangladesh. De livssituationsförändringar vi

valt att studera är lånens effekt på fattigdom, sårbarhet och kvinnornas ställning i familjen och

i samhället. Inom alla tre områdena går det att se betydande skillnader före och efter det att

lånen har beviljats. Vi får också stöd för dessa skillnader genom de vetenskapliga

undersökningar som finns.

Hos alla våra intervjupersoner kan man se tydliga skillnader i deras ekonomiska situation. De

har inte blivit rika, men de är i alla fall mindre fattiga vilket visar att lånen uppfyller sitt syfte.

Det har varit svårare att dra paralleller när det gäller sårbarheten, men vi kan se att vissa av de

aktiviteter som kvinnorna valt att ägna sig åt kommer att minska deras sårbarhet.

Vi tycker att det är glädjande att konstatera hur kvinnornas ställning har förbättrats i och med

att de har beviljats lånen. De åtnjuter nu en helt annan status än tidigare – både inom familjen

och i samhället. De är med och fattar beslut i familjen som de tidigare inte fick säga någonting

om, och de kan delta i samhället på helt andra villkor.

Many development policies have been implemented with a focus on practical gender needs to improve women's lives in Bangladesh. However, these programmes have paid little attention to implementing women's strategic gender needs and consequently have failed to bring significant changes to poverty and malnutrition among rural women in Bangladesh. As an extension of economic development programmes the Grameen Bank micro-credit institution in Bangladesh provides credit to the rural poor, particularly women. It operates in more than half of the villages through loans disbursement to 2.3 million members of whom 95 percent are women. The question to be raised is to what extent does the Grameen Bank credit scheme generate women's income activities with the prospect of empowering them against poverty and malnutrition. The major concern of my Ph.D. research is to examine the impact of Grameen Bank credit on empowering rural women socially and economically which, in turn, improves women's health and nutrition. The theoretical frameworks used for assessing the impact of credit activities on empowering women are drawn from the Harvard Analytical Framework (1980), Longwe's (1994) Women's Empowerment Assessment Framework, and Kabeer's (1998), using indicators to assess women's empowerment. The five specific dimensions are: (1) women's economic activities, (2) women's control over income, (3) access to and control over productive resources, (4) women's freedom of mobility, and (5) market access, all of which have been adapted and used to assess women's empowerment through credit activities. My research methodology consists of ethnographic field research, including in-depth interviews of women's experiences, participant observations and focus group discussion. I employ both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data, which was collected from December 1999 to April 2000. Two groups of women are considered in this study, those who were involved in the Grameen Bank credit activities, and those who did not access Grameen credit. A total of 144 participants, including Muslim and Hindu backgrounds and Grameen Bank staff, were involved in the study. The study found the majority of women have no control over their loans. Women hand over their loans to male family members to invest in more profitable male-dominated economic activities, beyond the domestic sphere. The result is that women have no say or little say in how their loan money is to be used and for what purposes. In addition, women who invest their loans in traditional female economic activities depend largely on males for marketing their products. It is also found that although women take loans, provide more energy and time, and bear the burden of re-payment, it is men who use their prevailing traditional power to buy productive assets in their own name and under their control. For the majority of women their lives have become more vulnerable and have slipped into deeper poverty and malnutrition. Factors such as women's restricted mobility, lack of market access, and rigid gender cultural practices are major obstacles to women's empowerment through credit activities. The study also found only a small minority of women have benefited from the Grameen micro-credit scheme. These women are mostly Hindu low caste widows, who have had market access and became involved in the production and management of male-managed economic activities. These activities increase women's negotiation skills, widen their knowledge and market information and enhance their courage and self-confidence in challenging patriarchal social structures in their community. In general, there are no significant differences between Grameen and non-Grameen Bank women in terms of control over income, market access, and control over productive assets. The nutritional status of women is assessed using: (a) body mass index, (b) food frequency questionnaire, and (c) 3-day food consumption patterns. Nutritional adequacy and deficiency are assessed and compared with recommended dietary allowances in Bangladesh. Most of the Grameen Bank women are nutritionally deficient compared to non-Grameen women. Grameen Bank women's heavy workload and debt burden, lack of control over income and expenditure combined with gender disparity in household resource allocation, are viewed as critical in negatively impacting on women's health and nutritional status. The computer programme Epinfo version 6, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word and Nutrition programmes were used to analyse data. Power point was used to seminar presentation of my research themes and findings.

The global economy celebrates microcredit as poverty alleviation for the individual and as a way to boost a country’s economic growth. This study examines if results from previous research on Grameen Bank’s microcredits are supported by statistics. By using Exploratory Sequential Mixed Method, five themes was conducted from the qualitative findings and then analyzed from capability approach theory and Schumpeterian growth theory. Results indicates that poverty have declined in Bangladesh, but it also shows that income share for the poorest has not increased nor the female employment rate.  Both the consumption and the GDP for Bangladesh have increased, but the conclusion of this study suggest that microcredits are convoluted and needs further studies that are comprehensive with both qualitative and statistical research that are more detailed and profound. Since the available statistics are inadequate further research generally about microcredits are needed, especially if banks and organizations worldwide are going to use it as poverty alleviation.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1989.
Title as it appeared in M.I.T. Graduate List, June 1989: Credit for self-employment; the universal income generator? : case studies of the Grameen Bank and the Chicago Women's Self-Employment Project.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-76).
by Helen Scheuer Cohen.
M.C.P.

Thesis (PhD) - Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology, 2009.
Thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology - 2009. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-197) Restricted: no access. Release date 1st January 2011.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1997.
Advisor: Douglas H. Graham, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Program. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 282-296). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

M.A.
In South Africa, high unemployment rates, uneven distribution of opportunities and poverty are major concerns for the government. Poverty is defined as the deprivation of people due to the lack of access, and their right, to certain commodities. In 2004, close to 15,4 million people were living below the poverty line. In addition to this, in 2005, 53 percent of South Africans, equating to 16,4 million persons, were excluded from formal financial services. Microcredit has been advocated as a tool to reduce poverty. A world renowned microfinance model, the Grameen Bank model of Bangladesh has had success in not only reducing poverty, but also allowing poor people access to formal financial services. The bank has 7,93 million borrowers, with 97 percent being female clients, and one third of its borrowers have crossed the poverty line. Four organisations in South Africa have replicated this model. These organisations are the Small Enterprise Foundation, Marang Financial Services, The Women's Development Businesses, and the South African National Zakah Fund. These organisations have achieved in reaching 130,000 clients across South Africa, and extended over R1 billion in loans. However, only four of the nine provinces in the country have been infiltrated effectively. The impacts on these borrowers lives, and their households has been exceptional. Many of the families now have increased selfworth, a stable income, job security and access to credit in order to advance their businesses. In addition, Grameencredit has allowed thousands of South Africans access to legal, formal financial services. Thus, Grameencredit has been advocated to be an effective method in the fight against poverty.

Le microcrédit est aujourd'hui un terme qui revient souvent quand on entend parler de développement. Les bailleurs de fond se dirigent de plus en plus vers cette « nouvelle » forme de financement du développement qui semble prometteuse à bien des égards. Cet outil peut, selon certains, avoir des effets positifs à plusieurs niveaux: économique, social et politique. Ce mémoire tente d'explorer ces aspects en portant une attention particulière à l'empowerment des femmes au Bangladesh. Il est question d'étudier la Grameen Bank, première banque spécialisée pour les pauvres qui émet des microcrédits à des femmes (97%) pour que celles-ci l'investissent dans une activité rémunératrice et qu'elles se hissent au-dessus du seuil de la pauvreté. Cette recherche dresse un portrait socio-économique et culturel du Bangladesh; présente l'institution étudiée, la Grameen Bank; et aborde les enjeux reliés à l'empowerment des femmes et à l'élimination de la pauvreté à travers des entrevues effectuées durant le printemps 2007, dans trois régions du pays: Rajshahi, Chittagong et Netrokona. Ce mémoire s'appuie aussi sur diverses études et recherches traitant de la question. L'hypothèse de départ est que grâce à ces prêts, les femmes acquièrent un pouvoir économique qui leur permet de sortir leur famille de la pauvreté et les mène sur le chemin de l'empowerment. Les principaux résultats obtenus suite aux entretiens semblent indiquer que les femmes ont encore un chemin à parcourir avant d'atteindre ce qui pourrait ressembler à l'égalité entre les hommes et les femmes. Toutefois, des transformations ont déjà pris formes et ces dernières ont vu leur position au sein du foyer s'élever. Elles ont gagné beaucoup en respect et en confiance, sans compter que plusieurs ont vu leur liberté de mouvement grandir et souhaitent une meilleure éducation pour leurs enfants. Par conséquent, cette étude semble montrer que lorsque les prêts sont bien investis, les femmes réussissent à augmenter leur niveau de vie et les changements au niveau social apparaissent peu à peu.

The purpose of the study is to: (1) examine the degree to which women borrowers of the Grameen Bank are being empowered to participate in familial decision-making around the management of income and expenditures like food, children’s education, dowry and teenage marriages; and (2) to examine women borrowers’ engagement in community activities such as the degree of freedom women are granted to visit public places like schools, local councils, banks and markets. In particular, the study explores the role of the Grameen Bank (GB) in women’s empowerment through the Sixteen Decisions, an educational program designed to empower women in the family and community. This study used a mixed-methods research design that included 61 GB women borrowers selected through purposive sampling. The data suggest that the participants have assumed leadership roles within their families: more than 80% of the study’s participants led decision making within their family; more than 90% supported their children’s education financially; 91% reported that they worked together with family members to manage day-to-day expenses; 80% reported that they manage their family incomes; 98% reported they do not like dowry marriages and teenage marriages; and 33% view male-dominant values as a hindrance to women’s development. The findings indicated that 98% of GB women borrower participants are engaged in community organizations and 94% do not face problems with this engagement. In the 2009 UpZilla (Municipal Sub-district) Election, out of 481 seats, 114 Female Chairs (25% of the total) were elected from the GB women borrowers and their families (Grameen Bank, 2009). In addition, the number of women borrowers serving as councilors has increased from 1,572 in 1997 to 1,950 in 2003; these data indicate that the number of women borrowers acting in formal leadership roles is increasing (Grameen Bank, 2009). The study finds the GB program has had a positive impact upon the borrowers’ relations in the family and community. In spite of these developments, one-fifth of GB women borrowers’ husbands control their wives’ loan money, an indication of the strength of patriarchy in Bangladesh. Although GB’s Sixteen Decisions have included economic issues and other social issues, none directly discusses gender inequality, which the study findings suggest is important. Hence a revision of the Sixteen Decisions is suggested.