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This paper focuses on the relationship between "urbanization economies" and access to bank credit by assessing the role of product variety and economic complexity in affecting local credit market conditions. Using quarterly data on Italian provinces for 2008–2018 and adopting a dynamic (spatial) econometric approach, the work provides robust evidence highlighting how local economic complexity reduces the barriers to accessing local credit markets. With a greater "qualified" diversification (higher economic complexity), banks access successful projects with greater probability and are more willing to grant credit. The estimation results also reveal the existence of long‐run spatial spillover effects. The empirical findings advocate for a nuanced and context‐specific policy framework. By embracing place‐based and mission‐oriented policies encouraging diversification and knowledge diffusion, regions can enhance their economic resilience and provide tailored support to businesses, ensuring their stability and growth even in the face of challenging credit conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern agricultural technologies hold huge potential for increasing productivity and reducing poverty in developing countries. However, adoption levels of these technologies have remained disappointingly low in Africa. This paper analyzes the effect of access to credit on the likelihood of adoption and use intensity of chemical fertilizers using data from large rural surveys in Ethiopia. Using a heteroscedasticity‐based identification strategy to address the endogenous nature of access to credit, we find that access to credit has significant positive effects on adoption and intensity of use of chemical fertilizers. However, important heterogeneities are observed. Credit obtained from formal sources is more important for the intensity of use than for the decision to adopt chemical fertilizers. Credit taken with the primary purpose of financing agricultural inputs is more likely to promote adoption of chemical fertilizers than credit taken per se. Furthermore, reported credit effects are larger when estimated against the sample of credit‐constrained non‐users as compared with the pool of the whole sample of credit non‐users. The results remain robust to several sensitivity analyses. Our results yield useful implications for the design, promotion, and targeting of credit services to leverage their effect on adoption of agricultural technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effects of the bankruptcy benefit and adverse events on the consumer bankruptcy decision. Employing zero‐inflated ordered probit models and a unique longitudinal survey of approximately 66,000 individuals in Great Britain, we find that consumers are more likely to enter into bankruptcy proceedings when the bankruptcy benefit increases and when they become unemployed. We find that the effects of adverse events differ across bankruptcy types. Individuals who experience the onset of health problems are more likely to choose reorganization of debts (i.e., income gleaning), whereas individuals who get divorced or separated are more likely to prefer the discharge of debts (i.e., fresh start). We also examine access to credit after bankruptcy. We find that individuals are excluded from the credit markets post‐bankruptcy and the impact differs across bankruptcy types. Credit exclusion for fresh starters is dramatic, swift but short‐lived, while for income gleaners, it is gradual, slow but lasts longer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Credit has been identified as an essential tool to improve poor households' livelihood. Therefore, for rural farm households to improve their welfare and invest in productive agriculture activity, access to credit must be promoted. This paper examines how credit accessibility influences rural farm households' farmland abandonment reduction in Ghana. Using survey data collected from four regions in Ghana, the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model, and the problem confronting index (PCI) model were employed in the estimation. The findings revealed that households with access to credit are more likely to not abandon their farmland than a random farmer from the sample. Also, different household groups showed a heterogeneous impact of credit on farmland abandonment. Our findings provide policy implications to reduce farmland abandonment. For example, the negative credit accessibility impact on farmland abandonment implies that government and policymakers should target policies (e.g., improving the rural financial market) that will motivate farmers to reduce farmland abandonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To analyze whether the occurrence of elections affects access to credit for firms, we perform an investigation using firm‐level data covering 44 developed and developing countries. The results show that elections impair access to credit. Specifically, firms have lower access to credit in election years and pre‐election years as elections exacerbate political uncertainty. While higher borrower discouragement is a tangible negative effect of elections, their occurrence per se does not seem to affect loan acceptance by banks. We also document that the negative relationship between elections and credit access is shaped by country and election characteristics as well as firm characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays an important role in rural livelihoods and household well‐being. Therefore, this study examines the impact of ICT adoption on farmers' decisions to access credit and the joint effects of ICT adoption and access to credit on household income using 2016 China Labour‐force Dynamics Survey data. Both recursive bivariate probit model and a selectivity‐corrected ordinary least square regression model are employed for the analysis. The results show that ICT adoption increases the probability of access to credit by 12.8% in rural China and empowers rural women and farm households in relatively less‐developed regions to access credit. ICT adoption and access to credit affect household income differently. ICT adoption significantly increases household income, while access to credit significantly reduces it, primarily because farmers do not use the acquired credit to invest in income‐generating farm and off‐farm business activities. ICT adoption has the largest positive impact on household income at the highest 90th quantile. Our findings suggest that improving rural ICT infrastructure to enhance farmers' ICT adoption and developing ICT‐based financial products to enable households to access sufficient funds can improve rural household welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how racial/ethnic discrimination influences financial access and material hardship, using survey data collected from self‐identified Korean immigrants living in two counties in Alabama (N = 241). Key variables are experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination, two subjective measures of financial access, and four indicators of material hardship (overall, food‐related, health insurance, and medical care). Descriptive analyses show a high rate of experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination, limited access to basic financial services and credit, and considerable rates of material hardship. Regression analyses indicate that experiencing discrimination has a significant association with access to credit but not with access to basic financial services. Access to credit has a significant and negative association with all types of material hardship. Our findings challenge the model minority myth of socially and economically integrated Asian/Korean immigrants. Results call for anti‐discrimination policies and public efforts to expand financial access and reduce material hardship among Korean immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) serves as a credible mechanism to simultaneously address food security, climate change, and agricultural productivity. Despite the widespread adoption of CSA approaches across West Africa, many countries have still not been able to resolve the problems of food insecurity and rural poverty. This systematic review evaluates published evidence on the types of CSA practices, the determinants and benefits of adoption, and the barriers confronting the adoption of CSA practices across West Africa, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses statement checklist. Articles published in English from January 2010 to March 2023 investigating the benefits of and barriers to the adoption of CSA practices in West Africa were retrieved from ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools for use in systematic reviews. The themes emerging from the articles were extracted, and a summary was provided to illustrate each theme. After applying the eligibility criteria, 12 articles were included in the final review. The studies reviewed revealed that farmers used more knowledge‐, water‐, carbon‐, and nitrogen‐smart practices, compared to weather‐ and energy‐smart practices. Across the reviewed papers, factors such as the education level of farmers, age, gender, household size, membership of a social group, agricultural extension services, and access to credit/financial resources influenced CSA adoption. The reviewed studies identified that farmers who used CSA practices reported benefits such as improved soil fertility, higher yield, improved household income, climate resilience (such as overcoming the effects of drought and extreme temperatures), and food security. Some farmers adopted CSA practices to reduce the effect of droughts and high temperatures on their crops, and thus increase their resilience to climate variability and change. However, farmers' adoption is confronted with challenges related to the technicality of some CSA practices, high cost of labor for CSA implementation, lack of credit and government support, limited access to weather and climate information, limited information about CSA options, high illiteracy level of smallholder farmers, and incompatibility of some practices with farmers' crop of interest. Our findings show that most CSA practices in the studies we reviewed are not well targeted to meet farmers' crop of interest, and that governments should provide more practical training to enhance farmers' understanding of CSA practices, especially those related to weather‐ and energy‐smart initiatives. There should also be more robust financial and institutional support to improve the adoption and usage of CSA practices at all levels. Additionally, socio‐cultural factors such as values, customs, and beliefs should be properly integrated into CSA plans as they influence the adoption of CSA practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the factors influencing garlic producers' market outlet selection decisions in Goncha Siso Enese District, Ethiopia. A total of 359 garlic producer households were polled, and the results were analyzed using a multivariate probit (MVP) model. According to the MVP model results, extension contact, access to market information, quantity of garlic sold, and farm experience in farming were negatively and significantly associated with the choice of consumer outlet. Besides this, the estimated MVP for retailer outlet choice is positively influenced by the amount of quantity sold, and farm experiences in garlic have a significant and positive effect on the choice of retailer outlets. In contrast, education level, access to credit, extension contact, and land area allocated for garlic have a negative influence on the choice of retail outlet. Moreover, wholesaler outlet choice is significantly and positively influenced by education level, access to credit, amount of quantity sold, extension contact, and distance to market, whereas it is negatively influenced by lagged price. Assembler outlet is also positively influenced by sex, distance to market, access to market information, and quantity sold, and negatively affected by extension contact and lag price. The implication is that, if smallholder garlic producers have access to alternative market outlets, they must select an appropriate combination of market outlets to maximize their income in the long run. It is suggested that equal access to marketing infrastructure in potential production areas, the garlic production system, and rural-urban development infrastructure should be improved and made more accessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the importance of promoting gender equality, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have emerged to reduce the gender gap by supplying credit opportunities to women. However, the microfinance literature has largely focused on the role of women in the client base while devoting less attention to their representation in the organizational structure of MFIs. This study aims to fill this gap. Using ANOVA and random effects models, our purpose is to investigate which types of MFIs more intensively promote gender equality within their workforce, at any of the organizational ladders. We analyze data from 1222 MFIs across 102 developing countries from 2010 to 2018. Empirical evidence reveals that the presence of females in both the workforce and the client base is significantly lower in commercially motivated MFIs (e.g., banks and other for‐profit institutions) compared to non‐government organizations (NGOs), and —to a lesser extent— credit unions, cooperatives and rural banks. Our results suggest that the microfinance sector would benefit from a stronger emphasis on NGO‐driven initiatives to promote female representation in terms of both employment opportunities and access to credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia were affected by the food insecurity issue. This study aimed to analyze the drivers of food insecurity, the choice of livelihood strategies, and factors that impact the choices of food security strategies in response to food insecurity in Abay Chomen District of Ethiopia's Oromia region, Ethiopia. The result of this study is based on primary data and obtained from 150 randomly chosen sample households and secondary data generated from various sources. As for the technique of data analysis, this study employed descriptive statistics for the food insecurity index, as well as a binary logistic model and a multinomial logit model for the choice of household livelihood techniques. The findings of the survey showed that 51.3% of the households were found to be food-insecure and 48.7% food-safe in the study area. Furthermore, the result indicated that the average calorie consumption of the households surveyed was 2008.54 kcal for each adult equivalent per day, which is below the lowest calorie necessity of 2200 kcal. The estimated logistic model outcome on the drivers of household food insecurity confirmed the oldness of the household leader, larger family holder, and off-farm income affects negatively, while the gender of the household leader, the size of the built-up area, the number of livestock holdings (except oxen), the number of oxen owned, access to credit, the participation in the sale of cattle, and others affect positively. In addition, the multinomial logit model result indicates that the educational status of the household leader, the size of livestock farming, the number of oxen possessed, access to credit, remoteness to the market, and monthly agricultural earning are the main drivers of the choice of livelihood strategies of concern for the food insecurity of households. As a result, this research attempted to produce a result of analysis with a defined scope, although many questions remain unsolved. Future studies should concentrate on presenting fundamental data on the factors that affect food security status and livelihood strategy, the social, political, natural, and environmental aspects, the descriptive information on the shopping habits of people who experience food insecurity, and the key aspects that increase the vulnerability of the rural poor to food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue contributes to the development economics literature by highlighting the role of information communication and technologies (ICTs) in supporting rural and agricultural development. It is comprised of nine papers. Key findings from this special issue include: (1) internet use increases rural consumption diversity and agricultural productivity; (2) smartphone use empowers rural women in household decision‐making and off‐farm work participation; (3) smartphone‐based agricultural extension services boost rural income growth; (4) a lack of ICT infrastructure and inadequate skills to use digital technologies are two key factors that lead to digital poverty traps for smallholder rural farmers; (5) ICT adoption increases the probability of rural households' access to credit and empowers rural women and farm households in relatively less developed regions to access credit; (6) digital financial inclusion reduces farmers' vulnerability to poverty; and (7) e‐commerce adoption increases both sales prices and marketing costs, but the magnitude of increasing the former is higher than the magnitude of increasing the latter, which finally contributes to a higher gross return. This special issue also proposes practical instruments and implications for advancing the application of ICTs in rural areas to accelerate rural and agricultural development in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the welfare implications of agri‐value chain participation utilizing data collected from 423 smallholder vegetable farmers in northern Ghana. The endogenous switching regression (ESR) model estimates the determinants of agri‐value chain participation and their associated impacts on farmers' welfare, measured by household income and consumption expenditure. The ESR model accounts for selectivity bias associated with observed and unobserved factors. We find that agri‐value chain participation improves vegetable farmers' welfare. Participation significantly increases household income and consumption expenditure by about 22% and 40%, respectively. Our results also reveal that agri‐value chain participation is significantly determined by education, household size, mobile phone ownership, irrigation, farm size, farmer group membership, and extension visits. Variables such as education, access to irrigation, farm size, access to credit, farmer group membership, and extension are the significant determinants of farmers' welfare [EconLit Citations: D24, Q12, Q18]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to credit in the United States is contingent upon an individual obtaining the "right" credit score. Yet the opaque scoring system makes it nearly impossible for an individual to break out of a cycle of low credit ratings and participate in the benefits of the American economy. Partially as a response, alternative credit rating products now use personal nonfinancial data for automated credit decision‐making, purportedly intended to expand access to credit. Social media activity, college grades, and even what time of day a person applies for a loan are examples of data points used for this purpose. However, these and other alternative data can be highly correlated with protected traits, such as race and national origin. While extending access to credit equitably across society is an important goal, the cure should not exacerbate the same inequalities that it is designed to address. The necessity of credit for the modern consumer compels continued oversight of the credit infrastructure to ensure fair data practices and to hold participants accountable. This article contends that consumer access to a fair credit score is a necessity, and that the consumer credit infrastructure should be viewed as a modern utility and subject to additional oversight. A proposal is then advanced that establishes fair data duties for credit scoring entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diffusion of credit cards may have relaxed households' liquidity constraints, thereby stimulating the diffusion of commercial insurance. By investigating Chinese urban households who had no commercial insurance in 2013, we find that their initial access to credit cards significantly increased the likelihood of their holding commercial insurance in 2015. Our instrumental variable (IV) estimations confirm the causality. This positive effect is more pronounced among more liquidity‐constrained households and among households with more financial knowledge. Last, the initial access to credit cards also significantly enhanced commercial insurance renewal in 2015 among those households who had commercial insurance in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to credit has been a key component in protecting a country's agriculture sector against uncertainties and climate‐related shocks. Agricultural credits may also increase both agribusiness sectors' and farming‐related commercial activities' exposure to world markets. This study aims to investigate agricultural credits' short‐run and long‐run effects on agricultural production using control variables such as foreign direct investments, inflation rate, and government expenditures. We found that credits to agriculture affect value‐added agriculture positively in the long‐run; specifically, when agricultural credits increase by 1%, value‐added agriculture will increase by 0.19%; that is, an increase in credits to the agricultural sector leads to a significant increase in value‐added agriculture, while FDI and government size both reduce agricultural value‐added across countries. The findings of the pairwise causation test show that bidirectional causal links exist among almost all variables, validating feedback among agricultural value‐added, credit to agriculture, FDI, government expenditures, and inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The declining level of crop yield in connection with soil infertility poses a major threat to farmers' food security and income leading to adoption of different soil nutrient management (SNM) practices by rice farmers. The study identified five soil SNM options adopted by rice farmers and the factors influencing their adoption in the South Eastern region of Liberia. A multistage sampling technique was used to select study areas and participants, starting with purposive sampling of 6 high rice‐producing counties and 12 districts, followed by random sampling of 17 rice farmers from each district, resulting in a total of 408 farmers, with data collected through structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a probit regression model to understand the factors influencing SNM adoption. The result showed that the majority (78.43%) of the rice farmers were into lowland rice farming, 97.55% into integrated SNM with 26.72% in organic fertilizer options. The probit regression analysis revealed that the likelihood of adopting SNM practices was significantly influenced by gender (−4.9%), age (+8.2%), education (+16.7%), land ownership (−6.8%), farm size (+4.4%), agricultural group membership (+32.08%), credit access (+4.9%), and farm distance (−8.8%). It was observed that rice farmers adopt SNM practices primarily to increase yield (x¯ = 4.34), with secondary motivations including maintaining a healthy environment (x¯ = 3.89), increasing income (x¯ = 3.46), and improving food and nutrition security (x¯ = 3.11). To ensure efficient and effective rice production and boost agricultural output, agricultural policymakers and extension services should actively promote the adoption of SNM and integrated practices by providing targeted education and increasing access to credit facilities for farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Purpose Approach and methods Findings Policy implications The level of financial inclusion has increased markedly in Namibia in recent years. Currently, 78% of the population is considered to be financially included. More importantly, this increase has largely derived from vulnerable groups, including low‐income earners living in rural areas. Although there has been an increase in the rate of financial literacy, there is no formal empirical analysis showing the extent to which improved access to formal financial services is associated with financial literacy.This article deepens the empirical analysis of financial literacy by simultaneously considering their effects on savings, bank account ownership, and access to credit and insurance in Namibia. We further disaggregated the analysis to consider heterogeneity between men and women, as well as between rural and urban populations.We used data from the Namibia Financial Inclusion Survey of 2017 and the instrumental variable probit model to minimize the bias from possible endogeneity caused by potential measurement error, unobserved variable bias, or reverse causality.The study showed that financial literacy significantly increases the likelihood of people using formal financial products. Failure to adequately control for the associated bias would lead to substantial overestimation of the impact of financial literacy. Estimates from the disaggregated analysis showed that the impact of financial literacy differs significantly between rural and urban populations, as well as between men and women. The effects are higher for males than for females and for rural than urban sub‐samples.The positive effect of financial literacy on formal financial products suggests that policy options that promote financial literacy are crucial for improving access to formal financial products, particularly for men and the rural population. These policies could include the introduction of financial literacy programmes in schools in order to enhance personal financial knowledge and participation in the formal financial sector. Emphasis should be placed on the raising of awareness, especially among disadvantaged communities, as to the benefits of owning and operating different financial products and on the inclusion of financial literacy programmes on public television. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. bank branch network has contracted since the 2010s, limiting borrowers' access to credit institutions. This paper analyzes the changes in banks' branch concentration and their effect on borrowers' choices of being self‐employed. To evaluate the impact of the bank branch closings, I use a shift‐share research design to assess self‐employment exits using zip code variation in preexisting bank market shares. I disaggregate the self‐employed into two categories: entrepreneurs whose businesses depend on business loans (incorporated self‐employed) and other self‐employed individuals (unincorporated self‐employed). Using a Community Advantage Panel Survey, I find that the proximity of credit market institutions has heterogeneous effects on self‐employment exits. While bank branch closures lead to a decline in incorporated businesses, particularly within a five‐mile radius, unincorporated businesses appear insignificantly affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herdsmen's access to credit funds plays an important supporting role in promoting the modern economic development of pastoral areas and broadening the channels for herders to increase their income. This paper studies the credit behavior of herdsmen from the perspective of emotional and psychological state identification to analyze the current credit behavior of herdsmen. Firstly, the internal mechanism of herdsmen's credit and emotional and psychological identification research content are analyzed. Secondly, a scheme of emotional and psychological state identification is proposed, and a corresponding survey of herdsmen is carried out according to the scheme. Finally, the Probit and Heckman models are introduced to analyze the credit behavior of herdsmen. The results show that herdsmen with high emotional and psychological scores strongly demand credit. They are likely to have access to credit and have a high level of credit. Herdsmen with low scores of emotional and psychological characteristics have low or no apparent demand for credit, and their credit availability is also low. The herdsmen with high emotional and psychological characteristics have a 71% higher probability of generating credit demand than herdsmen with low openness. Their likelihood of obtaining credit is also 33.47% higher than herdsmen with low emotional and psychological characteristics. They also have easy access to higher loan amounts. The results provide a reference for related research and analysis of herdsman's credit behavior and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is one of Ethiopia's economic cornerstones, although its production remains low. Since then, the implementation of modern agricultural technologies has remained a promising strategy in Ethiopia for increasing agricultural production, achieving food security, and reducing poverty. The objective of the study is to examine the determinants of modern agricultural technology adoption for teff production in Minjar Shenkora woreda. The data were collected from the representatives of 362 rural households. This study employed both descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model. The estimations of the multinomial logit model revealed that sex, age, marital status, tropical livestock units, educational level of household head, distance to market, extension contact, active household members, access to credit, off-farm activities participation, and cultivated land size are the determinants of modern agricultural technology adoption for teff production in Minjar Shenkora woreda, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Therefore, this study recommended that the country's federal and regional governments, agricultural development offices, nongovernmental organizations, and donor agencies should collaborate with farm households to improve access to information, access to credit, encourage off-farm participation and provide training and consulting services to increase the adoption of modern agricultural technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use household survey data to investigate the relationship between formal, private property rights to agricultural land and agricultural investment, land valuation and access to credit in Tanzania. Results show that landownership documents are associated with substantial increases in the market value of land (more than 25%). One reason appears to be that well‐documented private property rights facilitate the use of land as collateral for loans and therefore ease access to credit. The findings suggest that there are potentially significant, economic returns to systematic land titling in Tanzania and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions, ecological pollution and a steadily rising global temperature have been widely acknowledged as the most severe risks to human survival in the last few decades. Alarming increases in global temperature and sudden climatic shifts are nature's way of warning us to curb the use of fossil fuels and adopt more sustainable practices. Therefore, the present study investigates the impact of financial stability, environmental regulations and uncertain economic policies on carbon emissions and investment in renewable energy. The study used a nonparametric DEA‐DDF technique to fulfil this objective using a balanced panel dataset comprising 28 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2021. Overall results demonstrated that financial stability reduces carbon emissions and accelerates investment in renewable energy projects. The findings imply that a financially stable economy like China encourages businesses to invest in cutting‐edge, environmentally friendly technology to boost productivity while reducing carbon emissions. Likewise, results show that stringent ecological regulations decrease carbon emissions and promote investment in renewable energy. Hence, stakeholders are keen to comply with environmental regulations in China to reduce carbon emissions by investing in renewable energy resources to avoid penalties. Finally, results suggest that uncertain economic policies increase carbon emissions and restrict access to credit from financial institutions for investment in renewable energy purposes in China. Findings imply that uncertainty in economic policies could lead to less environmentally friendly production practices that may increase carbon emissions and reduce the demand for renewable energy products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Micro‐, small‐, and medium‐sized enterprises (MSMEs) account for the vast majority of firms in most economies, particularly in developing nations, and are key contributors to job creation and global economic development. However, the most significant impediment to MSME development in low‐ and middle‐income countries is a lack of access to both investment and working capital financing. Due to a lack of essential track record, appropriate collateral, and credit history, MSMEs are frequently denied business loans by traditional lending institutions. In addition, SMEs' inability to access funding is hindered by institutional, structural, and non‐financial factors. To address this, both the public and private sectors employ indirect and direct finance interventions to help MSMEs in developing and emerging economies enhance and increase their financing needs. Given the importance of MSMEs in the economy, a comprehensive overview of and systematic synthesizing of the evidence of the effects of financial access interventions for MSMEs, capturing a wide variety of outcome variables, is useful. Objectives: The objective of this evidence and gap map (EGM) is to describe the existing evidence on the effects of various interventions dedicated to supporting and improving MSMEs' access to credit, as well as the corresponding firm performance and/or welfare outcomes. Methods: An EGM is a systematic evidence product that displays the existing evidence relevant to a specific research question. An EGM's end product is a research article or report, but it can also be shared via an interactive map drawn as a matrix of included studies and their corresponding interventions and outcomes. Interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries that target specific population subgroups are included on the map. The EGM considers five types of interventions: (i) strategy, legislation and regulatory; (ii) systems and institutions; (iii) facilitate access; (iv) lending instruments or financial products; and (v) demand‐side interventions. The map, on the other hand, covers outcome domains for policy environment, financial inclusion, firm performance, and welfare. Impact evaluations or systematic reviews of relevant interventions for a previously defined target population are included in the EGM. Studies using experimental or non‐experimental designs, as well as systematic reviews, are eligible. The EGM excludes before‐and‐after study designs with no suitable comparison group. Furthermore, the map excludes literature reviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and descriptive analyses. Search strings were used to conduct electronic searches in databases. To ensure that the research team had identified a significant portion of relevant research works, the search strategy was supplemented with gray literature searches and systematic review citation tracking. We have compiled studies that are either completed or in progress. For practical reasons, studies are limited to papers written in English and are not restricted by publication date. Selection Criteria: We included studies that examined interventions to enhance MSMEs' access to finance in low‐ and middle‐income countries targeting MSMEs including households, smallholder farmers and single person enterprise as well as financial institutions/agencies and their staff. The EGM considers five types of interventions that aim to: (i) deliver strategy, legislation, and regulatory aspects; (ii) systems and institutions that enable financing; (iii) facilitate access to finance; (iv) deliver different lending instruments or financial products, including traditional forms of microcredit; and (v) demand‐side interventions such as programs on financial literacy. The map includes outcome domains surrounding policy environment, financial inclusion, firm performance, and welfare. Eligible studies must be experimental, non‐experimental, or systematic reviews. In addition, the study designs must have a suitable comparison group before and after the implementation of interventions. Results: The EGM includes 413 studies. The majority of the studies (379 studies) analyzed microenterprises, such as households and smallholder farmers; 7 studies analyzed community groups; while 109 studies analyzed small and medium enterprises. There were 147 studies on interventions that targeted multiple firm sizes. Lending instruments/financial products are the most common intervention across all firm types. When it comes to the types of firms that receive the said financial intervention, the data is overwhelmingly in favor of microenterprises (278 studies), followed by systems and organizations (138 studies) that support better access to such financial products and services. Welfare outcomes have the most evidence out of all of the outcomes of interest, followed by firm performance and financial inclusion. Among all firm types, welfare outcomes are primarily targeted at microenterprises. With 59 studies, we can say that small businesses have a significantly large number of enterprise performance outcomes. of the 413 studies, 243 used non‐experimental or quasi‐experimental designs (mainly propensity score matching and instrumental variable approaches), 136 used experimental methods, and 34 were systematic reviews. 175 studies (43%) provided evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa, 142 studies (35%) from South Asia, 86 studies (21%) from East Asia and the Pacific, 66 studies (16%) from Latin America and the Caribbean, 28 studies (7%), Europe and Central Asia, and 21 studies (5%) from the Middle East and North Africa. Most of the included evidence covers low‐income (26%) and lower‐middle income countries (66%), and to a lesser extent upper‐middle‐income countries (26%). Conclusion: This map depicts the existing evidence and gaps on the effects of interventions to enhance MSMEs' access to financial services in low and middle‐income countries. Interventions directed at microenterprises with welfare outcomes have a significant number of research outcomes in the literature. SME evaluations have looked at firm performance, with less focus to employment and the welfare effects on owners and employees, including poverty reduction. Microcredit/loans have been the focus of a large number of research papers (238 studies), indicating the field's growing popularity. However, emerging financial interventions such as facilitating access to digital financial services are relatively under‐studied. Several studies also investigate rural or population in remote areas with 192 studies, 126 studies on poor and disadvantaged, and 114 papers on women. Most of the research is conducted in Sub‐Saharan Africa (175 studies) and South Asia (142 studies) so further research in other regions could be conducted to allow a more holistic understanding of the effects of financial inclusion interventions. Credit lines, supply chain finance, and trade financing, which are some of the ADB's financial tools have limited evidence. Future studies should look into strategy, law, and regulation interventions, as well as interventions targeted at SMEs, and examine policy and regulatory environment outcomes as well as welfare outcomes. Interventions on the demand side and their impact on the policy and regulatory environment, as well as facilitating access are relatively understudied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning and female farmers are crucial for the succession of the next generation of farming. Despite policy interventions to provide access to credit, land, and capital, little is known about whether the end‐market consumers support the business ventures of beginning farmers and their products. Using an incentivized online experiment, this study assesses consumers' willingness to support beginning and female farmers in direct monetary donations, real effort volunteerism support, and willingness‐to‐pay for products. The results show that consumers, in general, do not differentiate their support for beginning farmers relative to generic farmers except in the case of voluntary effort exertion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aimed to estimate income diversification and investigate demographic, socioeconomic, and institutional factors that determine the smallholder farmer's diversification of income in the Sodo Zuria district, southern Ethiopia. Cross-sectional data were collected from 353 randomly selected households. The Simpson Index of Diversity was used to summarize income diversification, and the Tobit econometric model was implemented to explore the factors affecting the income diversification of smallholder farmers. Accordingly, the mean earnings diversification among smallholder farmers was estimated at 0.56. The primary household income sources are livestock rearing, crop production, mixed farming, nonlabor income, agricultural wages, and nonagricultural wage employment. We found household age, family size, livestock ownership, use of agricultural inputs, access to credit, and participation in training activities significant factors determining smallholder farmers' income diversification in the research area. Lack of initial capital and market access were the principal challenges to diversifying income sources. Therefore, decision-makers should work on the indicated predictors to improve income diversification activities in the study area; particularly, it is required to focus on effective credit provision systems by using modern technologies, improving agricultural input supply, and equipping farmers with better knowledge and skills on income diversification through short-term training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how the aftermath of the 2008 crisis affected firm productivity in the UK, focusing particularly on the cohort effect of firms established after 2008 – a previously overlooked aspect of the crisis – as well as the interaction with access to credit, which we test using firm‐specific and time‐varying credit scores. For identification, a matched sample is used based on credit score, firm age, size and ownership status, combining propensity score matching with difference‐in‐differences. While we find evidence that smaller firm size and changes in credit conditions affect productivity, about half of the difference in productivity remains unexplained. When we extend the matching analysis to examine across sectors and cohorts, we find that the low productivity performance during the years 2011–2016 is driven primarily by newer firms in the services sector, rather than in manufacturing. Within services, the underlying productivity puzzle is driven by a cessation of output growth in high‐productivity financial services, while abundant labour supply has led to a 'levelling down' of performance of newer firms in other services, converging towards the relatively low‐productivity manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) is Ethiopia's poverty reduction strategy that forms the most important pillar of the country's agricultural transformation into a more productive and competitive sector. However, the extent to which the PSNP is linked to agriculture is unclear. This paper evaluates the impact of the PSNP on a range of agricultural outcomes. We use data from the Living Standard Measurement Study—Integrated Survey on Agriculture and apply the targeted maximum likelihood estimation method. We find no evidence that PSNP participation improved technology adoption, time spent in agriculture, household‐level access to agricultural services, or women's control over agricultural assets. However, PSNP participation increased access to credit, the share of non‐farm income, hours spent on casual work, community access to irrigation water, ownership of agricultural tools, community service in crop and livestock production, natural resource management, and access to credit. We also observe that PSNP households have a lower level of endowments compared to non‐PSNP households. Given the observed lack of impact on household‐level agricultural outcomes, we recommend integrating household‐level interventions, such as increasing the transfer size and provision of productive assets, that could lift household endowments above an asset threshold that would allow the productive use of community assets. This may boost the productive impact of the PSNP at the household level, facilitate agricultural development and economic growth. To generate additional insights, we recommend further research with sufficient data on the causal pathways between safety nets and agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voluntary land registries can affect land use by facilitating both the public's ability to monitor land use and farmers' access to credit. We estimate the impacts of participation in a land registry on the conversion of natural vegetation to agricultural land use by examining the impacts of the rural environmental registry (CAR) in Brazil, using a dynamic land use model. We show that although participation in the CAR does not significantly affect crop area, it does influence pasture expansion, with variation by farm size and environmental compliance level. Our results provide insights for agricultural land‐use policies by illuminating how the intended environmental objectives of land registry programs might be undermined by credit policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the link between ease of doing business (EBD) and investment among 11 selected countries in West Africa covering 2006–2020. The study used the fixed‐effects estimator, the random‐effects estimator, the augmented mean‐group method, and the Half‐Panel Jackknife Wald‐type test. The study found a bidirectional relationship between the EBD and foreign direct investment (FDI) and a unidirectional relationship running from EBD to domestic investment. The findings further revealed that the EBD and national income have a strong influence in determining the level of domestic investment and FDI inflows, and that some indicators of EBD, such as the procedure for starting a business, access to credit facilities, tax, and security threats, discourage domestic investment and FDI inflows, in contrast to the influence of obtaining electricity and national income on investment. The study suggests that West African governments reduce taxes, ease the procedures and costs of starting a business and dealing with construction permits, and increase the availability of credit facilities at lower interest rates to promote investment in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is where Wiedemann introduces his "social policy theory of everyday borrowing" arguing that the constellation of welfare institutions and credit regimes shapes patterns of indebtedness not only I across i countries but also I within i countries. Wiedemann builds his credit regimes on the central idea that banks have to chose between either grant credit to business I OR i to households, as this choices were exclusive of each other. To explain the level of credit permissiveness in a given political economy, Wiedemann builds on the dichotomy between market-based and bank-based financial systems and conceives credit allocation between either households or businesses as a zero-sum game. Andreas Wiedemann's I Indebted Societies i has received praises and awards since it was first published in 2021. [Extracted from the article]

International organizations such as OECD, WBG, IMF, UN and EU, as well as research studies, have highlighted the increasing contribution being made by microcredit finance institutions (MFIs) to financial inclusion, sustainable economic development and the fight against poverty. However, access to MFI credit is still far from the desired level for small and micro‐enterprises, especially in developing countries. The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, where approximately half of the small formal companies do not have access to credit, have the world's highest financial gap ratio compared to potential demand (87%). In this context, effective instruments are needed to assess default risk, through credit ratings. Based on the Basel III regulations, an empirical study was conducted of two microcredit portfolios corresponding to two MFIs in two Latin American countries (Bolivia and Colombia) during the period 2012–2015, to identify the explanatory variables of the probability of default on loans granted by MFIs, using a logistic regression model and a neural network. The results obtained show that the main variables in this respect are the amount of the loan, the number of payments in arrears, the guarantees provided, the assessment of the credit analyst, male gender of the borrower and the level and trend of the general stock exchange index. The conclusions presented advance previous research findings and may be useful for MFI managers, regulatory institutions, financial analysts, scholars, policy‐makers and applicants for microcredits to undertake a business project, especially in times of emerging crisis, such as that caused by the Covid‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rich literature on income inequality, its impact on entrepreneurship is inconclusive, especially regarding the effect of different structures of inequality. In this research, we endeavour to explain such a phenomenon by formalising the inequality of opportunity. Utilising micro‐level data from China, we argue that it is inequality of opportunity that is negatively correlated with people's engagement in entrepreneurship, and this conclusion is consistent under a series of robustness checks. Our heterogeneity analysis indicates that the association between inequality of opportunity and entrepreneurship is stronger for self‐employment than for bigger‐scale private companies. It is also the strongest in regions with the lowest GDP per capita, the lowest fiscal expenditures and the smallest tertiary sector. These results suggest that economic development quality, economic structure and public service are important factors that influence the correlations between inequality of opportunity (IO) and entrepreneurial activities. Finally, we seek to understand the channels through which IO may be linked to entrepreneurship. Our results find that IO may discourage engagement in entrepreneurship by depressing human capital accumulation, access to credit, social capital and risk taking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing the productivity of crops through the adoption and uptake of technologies improves farmers' socioeconomic status through increased market participation. However, smallholder farmers in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) face a myriad of challenges that make it difficult for them to access and participate in the output markets. Like most SSA countries, the uptake of improved technologies is still low in Malawi. This study examines the relationship between the uptake of improved potato seed and donor‐funded training on market participation. Using secondary data from 393 potato farmers in Malawi, the study applied a triple‐hurdle model to examine the extent to which such interventions and other socioeconomic and institutional factors influence market participation. The results showed that male‐headed farm households, more experienced farmers, and those who participated in International Potato Center (CIP)‐led training were likely to market their potato output. Further, farmers closer to urban centers, those with off‐farm income, those who had participated in potato training, use of improved potato seed, and quantity of output positively influenced the decision to sell in high‐value markets such as supermarkets. On the other hand, land size, ownership of transport equipment, group membership, and access to credit had positive effects on the amount of potatoes sold, while the distance to the markets reduced the quantity sold. Based on these findings, there is a need to set up a seed system within the local communities where farmers can easily access the seeds. Additionally, there is a need for a collaborative effort between public and private sector stakeholders to invest in the production of improved potato seeds that would help to address the shortfall in supply. Finally, institutional support interventions that utilize farmer groups as a key entry point in sustaining training on improved potato seed, relaxing credit constraints, and promoting diversification into off‐farm enterprises would enhance potato production and marketing. Core Ideas: Better access to improved potato seed is essential for food security.Inadequate training and seed supply constrain potato production.Access to good seed and training are key to market participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of World Food Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Formal credit plays an important role for the development of the agriculture sector in developing countries because many farmers are characterized as liquidity constrained. Access to credit can increase farmers' purchasing power for inputs and agricultural technology, thus raising the overall productivity. Farmers in Mali are particularly vulnerable to shocks, such as heavy precipitation events. Access to liquidity to increase the resilience of the agricultural sector is essential. Therefore, higher financing volumes are required, which make the analysis of loan demand in agriculture of interest. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the role of the interest rate, the macroeconomic environment, the agricultural cycle and the gender of the farmer on the loan demand in the agricultural sector from a country in the Sahel. Unique and comprehensive loan data at the farm level, provided by a commercial Malian bank, is used for this analysis. The analysis covers the period from 2010 to 2020. Two different estimation strategies are combined. First, an ordinary least square regression is applied with the granted loan amount as the dependent variable. Second, the machine learning technique, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, is applied to select the most relevant features to be used as explanatory variables in the estimation. The results reveal that the interest rate, the gross value added, the farmer's gender as well as the agricultural cycle have statistically significant effects on the granted loan demand in agriculture. These results are of interest to policymakers, who deal with financial inclusion as well as market failures, and agricultural financial institutions who could incorporate such information in the design of future loan products to stimulate farmers' loan demand, especially for female farmers. [EconLit Citations: G20, G21, O13, O16, Q14, Q18]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new method to estimate the impact of external finance on productivity. Using a nested constant elasticity of substitution production function, finance has an indirect influence on productivity through its effect on capital augmenting‐technological change and depends on the elasticity of substitution between equity and debt, as well as on the quantity and price of external finance and net value added. We develop and test a theoretical model using Farm Accountancy Data Network regional data covering all EU Member States and different subsamples by EU regions, size of farms, and farm types. In the 2004–2018 period, land, labor, and capital complemented each other but had a decreasing or stagnating productivity, reaffirming the importance of external finance to improve productivity. Results suggest that external finance and productivity follow an inverted U‐shaped curve, with a positive impact on less capitalized farms with lower debt‐to‐equity ratios, while capital‐intensive farms are not benefiting from excess finance. Rethinking the general assumption that agricultural growth has a positive and linear effect with access to credit lead to different strategies in the use of external finance. [EconLit Citations: G30, O16, O33, Q14]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses processes of dadan contract negotiations between Bengali intermediaries and indigenous Tanchangya peasants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, in the culantro sector. The research extends the debates on the dadan system and interlocked market relationships by highlighting everyday dynamics of dadan and the issue of 'just price' that arises from such contracts. The article argues that the dadan loan system leads to greater spaces for exploitation. While it facilitates peasants' access to credit for agricultural and social reproduction and the supply of culantro to wider national markets, it also creates a dependency of Tanchangya peasants on Bengali moneylending traders. Such an analysis reveals the limitations of existing studies on dadan in accounting for the social, cultural and political aspects of dadan contracts, alongside their economic aspects. The article concludes that contested moralities associated with the pursuit of familial subsistence and contractual obligations shape peasants' decisions and strategies concerning such contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Motivation: To prevent job losses, firms facing insolvency in China may be kept running by bank credit, even though they show few signs of returning to profit. These loss-making firms are termed "zombies". Purpose: Does keeping zombie firms operating block access to credit for financially healthy firms, thereby slowing their growth, and consequently the number of jobs they might create? We analyse the effect of zombie firms within a postal zone--a sub-division of the county--on the growth of employment in non-zombie firms in the same zone. Methods and approach: Zombie firms are identified as those that have been unprofitable for at least two successive years, and that have a high and rising ratio of liabilities to assets. Data come from China's industrial enterprise database for 1998-2008 and 2011-2013, gathered from manufacturing, extractive industry, and utilities enterprises with annual sales of more than RMB 5 million (RMB 20 million for 2011 and beyond). It covers between 83,000 and 217,000 firms for the years examined. We use regression to examine the relationship between the presence of zombie firms and employment growth in healthy firms. We test the robustness of the analysis. Findings: Between 1999 and 2013 the share of firms in the database classified as zombies fell from almost 10% to under 3%. Regression analysis shows that the presence of zombies in the same postal code does indeed slow the growth of employment in healthy firms. This effect is stronger for private firms, small firms, and those located in central China. Results are robust when considering start-up firms, analysing relations at county level, and checking for endogeneity. We show that the most likely mechanism that slows the growth of healthy firms is being crowded out of credit markets by banks that allocate their limited credit to keep zombies operating. Policy implications: While it is tempting for government to pressure banks to keep zombie firms operating, thereby avoiding them shutting down with loss of jobs, the cost is high in slowing the growth of financially healthy firms. Banks should offer credit based on expected returns and risk, rather than keeping insolvent firms going. Local and national government should take note that protecting zombie firms has medium-and long-term costs in lost growth of employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under neoliberal social provision, debt has become a primary tool for US households to pursue economic mobility and manage risk. Borrowing supports financial and non‐financial investments that, in theory, should lead to lifetime income and asset gains from which debt can be repaid. Many scholars argue, however, that reliance on credit as a welfare tool significantly increases inequality, particularly along racial lines. In this paper, I examine this process of debt‐financed asset accumulation by analyzing racial disparities in the relationship between household debt and assets. Using Survey of Consumer Finances data, I examine disparities in assets held at given debt levels across Black and White households. Results indicate that at equal debt levels, Black households' assets are between 30% and 80% lower than those of comparable White households. This suggests that White households benefit considerably more from social policies that center borrowing as a mechanism of social provision. This likely contributes to the persistence of the racial wealth gap. Racial disparities in access to credit, to homeownership, and to non‐market financial transfers like inheritances partly explain White households' higher returns, but racial gaps remain even when accounting for these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black farmers have historically been discriminated against in services from the federal government, including access to credit. Discrimination can take the form of delayed loan processing requests, which can affect timely planting, harvesting, feeding of livestock, and farm performance. This study uses nationwide, farm‐level data from 2009 to 2021 from the Farm Service Agency's direct farm loan program to investigate racial discrimination in the farm loan program. Findings reveal loan processing times average longer for Black borrowers on operating loans, though with a substantial state‐level variation. Specifically, it takes an average of more than two additional days for Black farmers' operating loan applications to be completed and another two additional days to be processed. However, there was no significant difference in time for farm ownership loans suggesting a more nuanced cause than outright racial discrimination. Other factors that increased loan processing time for borrowers included larger loan amounts, more complex loan types, a mix of collateral, and being a new borrower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has a significant contribution to the livelihood diversification of the communities and supporting economic development efforts. This study aimed at an economic analysis of tourism's contribution to urban poverty reduction in Major Tourist Towns of North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. A multistage simple random sampling and purpose sampling were used to select sample respondents from the population in the study area. Hence, a total of 286 valid observations from 385 sample respondents were used for the analysis of the collected data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The finding of this study revealed that tourism has a significant and positive contribution to poverty reduction in urban areas, but the level of contribution is minimal. Besides, it exhibited that funding aids and government concern for tourism-targeted programs and access to credit infrastructure, tourism education, and policy were the significant factors that affect tourism's role in urban poverty reduction. Thus, to enhance its contributions and overcome industry bottlenecks, the government shall put tourism as a valuable development pillar, develop pro-poor strategies linking tourism with the urban poor, develop urban tourism development programs, and assign tourism-trained professional leaders to the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mano River Union countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone), using firm and country levels data to examine the differences and similarities in FDI drivers across these economies. Our results show that international trade, investment in infrastructures and access to credit positively impact FDI. While credit and trade have a similar influence across countries, the effect of investment is distinct, raising political implications for policy coordination and highlighting the relevance of cooperation among states. Also, policies that boost human capital, and political and economic stability, are relevant, as they augment FDI inflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning farmers and ranchers represent an important segment of U.S. agriculture, yet they face financial challenges relative to more established operations. This article provides an overview of emerging research on the financial performance of beginning farm and ranch operations, with a lens toward implications for the 2023 Farm Bill. First, we use U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Resource Management Survey data to explore descriptive statistics relative to beginning farm and ranch usage of: local food markets, Federal crop insurance, and financing mechanisms. Subsequently, we leverage a farm‐level panel dataset from the USDA Census of Agriculture and regression analysis to examine the relationship between key financial metrics and beginning farmer success. Results show: (a) beginning farm performance over time is associated with both increases in scale and productivity, as well as participation in agricultural programs, (b) access to credit is important, and that being credit constrained lowers the probability of survival, growth, and success for beginning operations, and (c) beginning operations are significantly less likely to use Federal crop insurance compared to established operations across all scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial inclusion and education contribute to a country's development and economic growth. However, despite the significant efforts being made to increase access to financial products for women, a high percentage still do not have access to and effective use of formal financial services in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. This study analyzes financial inclusion (based on gender equality) in the countries studied using a pooled‐panel ordinary least squares econometric technique. Furthermore, the impact of interactions between the level of study, use of technology, academic degree during the Covid‐19 restrictions, number of credit borrowers, and number of borrowers with the interaction of the restrictions during the health emergency was evaluated employing the Gini coefficient and human development index (HDI). This study confirms that Latin America and the Caribbean countries can increase financial inclusion by changing their social aspects based on gender equality to ease using technology and access to credit. The results of this study are helpful for policy‐makers in formulating and implementing policies that lead to action plans that reverse an exclusionary financial system, promote financial education, and empower women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the agricultural activities of rural farmers is dairy farming. Furthermore, by providing income, it has the potential to make farm households rich. The objective of this study was to analyze the general factors that influence adoption decisions, as well as the status of adoption of dairy technology in the Offa district, Wolaita zone, southern Ethiopia. The study area has fundamental factors influencing the adoption of dairy technologies which were unknown. This research was started to fill a knowledge gap for responsible bodies. Four kebeles were selected randomly for the study. 150 sample households (63 adopters and 87 nonadopters) were chosen using the SRS (systematic random sampling) method. The interview schedule was used to collect primary data from these households. Secondary data were gathered from a variety of sources, including reports, research findings, documents, and publications. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed by using descriptive and econometric analyzes by SPSS version 21. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were also used to collect qualitative data. A binary logistic regression model was used to examine the factors that influence the adoption of dairy technologies. The results of the binary logistic regression model revealed that both dairy technology participants and nonparticipant households experienced a combination of personal, demographic, economic, and institutional factors that hindered adoption. Respondent age, access to credit services, size of household landholding, frequency of the extension contact, involvement of outside income, livestock ownership, and distance from the nearest market were all significant negative contributing factors. On the other hand, farm income and dairy farming experience were positively significant variables in the model. Technical assistance to improve farm productivity and income, experience sharing and field visit programs to the fields of early experienced dairy farmers, improvement of farmland usage, improvement of road infrastructure in the study area, provision of appropriate and modernized training and extension services, and so on are among the recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do governments fail to implement policy commitments in contractual agreements with international organizations? While scholars have scrutinized domestic factors as obstacles to compliance, we argue that reform programs may be unimplementable by design. We study this hypothesis in the context of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs, in which borrowing countries must commit to far‐reaching economic policy reforms for access to credit. We collect detailed compliance data on individual policy conditions to assess the determinants of compliance failures of IMF programs from 1980 to 2009. Controlling for a host of borrower‐specific variables, features of the loan, unexpected shocks during implementation, donor influence, and bureaucratic interest, we find that the number of conditions is a robust predictor of implementation failure. Our theoretical explanation for these findings is that over‐ambitious program designs are the result of intra‐organizational bargaining within the IMF bureaucracy. While an area department within the IMF drafts the initial reform program, functional departments use their amendment power to include policy conditions that they care about, without due consideration of local circumstances, which leads to over‐ambitious programs. These findings have important implications for theories of compliance as well as for policymaking in international organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widely‐used in‐kind benefits are often rationed across potential participants in social programmes. This poses an operational challenge in implementation with limited public information. One possible solution is to randomize assignment given the available information. However, as this paper shows, neither the purposive targeting of in‐kind benefits nor randomized assignment is likely to yield a competitive equilibrium given private information on diverse personal gains. The paper characterizes equilibrium assignments and the implications for policy and evaluation. The theory is applied to an antipoverty programme providing rationed jobs on rural public works in a poor state of India. Special‐purpose survey data reveal large unexploited gains from allowing tradable assignments. The paper shows that the potential gains exceed those from poverty targeting and stylized cash transfer options. Realizing the scope for poverty reduction by such means will undoubtedly require complementary efforts in reducing the influence of other market and institutional factors creating poverty in the first place, including inequalities in access to credit and knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]