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Microfinance’s Impact on Education, Poverty,
and Empowerment:A Case Study from the Bolivian Altiplano
Sarah Gibb
April 2008
This
study explores the impact of microcredit on economic,
educational, and empowerment levels of women from the Bolivian
high plains who had acquired microcredit for over three years.
Primary research was carried out with the help of a major NGO
dedicated solely to microcredit. 100 in-depth personal
interviews were conducted by the author in La Paz and El Alto
from February to May 2007. This region was chosen because of the
wide extent to which microcredit have been implemented here
since the 1980s. The author created a control group from women
who had never taken out a microcredit. The study employs the use
of an established poverty scorecard to measure poverty levels
over time. Using a comparative approach that allows a
comparison between the independent control group and the loan
group, the study finds that while the ownership of goods
increased in the loan group, the benefits of microcredit on
family educational attainment levels and empowerment are
questionable. It is important to note that the vast majority of
microcredit research does not use this type of independent
control group.
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