ECON 473
Microfinance Spring 2013
Division II Quantitative/Formal Reasoning Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

Unequal access to finance (loans, savings, insurance) contributes to the persistence of poverty in developing countries. We review evidence that the entrepreneurial poor lack access to loans, and discuss how repayments can be enforced even when borrowers do not have collateral. We discuss how recent innovations in micro-insurance can reduce vulnerability. We will study the role of governments and donors in equalizing financial access through subsidies or targeting. Finally, we shall explore how microfinance can empower women within the household. Readings include current empirical and theoretical research in development economics. This course is an EDI course because it critically analyzes how microfinance interventions can reduce inequality both within and across households.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 19
Expected: 19
Class#: 3852
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation will be based on a midterm, a series of short papers and a longer final paper
Extra Info: not available for the Gaudino option and may not be taken Pass/Fail
Prerequisites: ECON 251 and ECON 255
Enrollment Preferences: senior Economics majors
Distributions: Division II Quantitative/Formal Reasoning Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ECON 473 Division II ECON 520 Division II

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