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A Microenterprise-Centered Economic Development Strategy for the Rural South: Sustaining Growth with Economic Opportunity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Ralph D. Christy
Affiliation:
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Mark D. Wenner
Affiliation:
Micro Enterprise Unit, InterAmerican Development Bank, Washington, DC
Wylin Dassie
Affiliation:
Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA

Extract

Microenterprise programs (MEPs) have become an important research concern and rural development strategy in international development circles. The basic premise of this approach is that microenterprises , that is firms with fewer than 10 employees, can be provided with a series of small loans that allow them to start or expand productive activities and thereby increase incomes and escape poverty. Governments and donor agencies have expanded funding for microfinance programs in low-income countries and more articles appear in the Western media about the success of this new approach in assisting the poor.

Type
Invited Paper Sessions
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2000

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