What are the realities of microfinance? New research is
debunking myths about microfinance and showing how organizations
can effectively address problems associated with poverty. Yale
faculty Dean Karlan, Tony Sheldon, and Rodrigo Canales discuss
the problems and the promise in the field of microfinance and
the lessons for other kinds of social enterprise. Download a
free interactive version of this article for your iPad Please
note that you must have iBooks 2 and iOS 5 installed on your
iPad in order to view this iBook. Q: Let's start with a
definition. What is microfinance? Tony Sheldon: Microfinance is
financial services for poor and low-income communities, people
who have been excluded from the mainstream financial system.
Dean Karlan: I would say that's the correct definition, but it's
not the often-used one, which focuses only on small loans to
poor individuals. Sheldon: During 2005, the United Nations'
"Year of Microcredit," there was a big push to expand the public
understanding beyond microcredit bec