Even though traditional microfinance has successfully paved the way for offering financial services to low-income populations without traditional collateral, many microfinance institutions (MFIs) are still reluctant to move into rural areas and agricultural finance, due to the p…
This research was made possible with the encouragement, support and assistance of several people. Iam thankful to Art Stoecker, Hong Lee, Su j it Roy, Robert Rouse, and David Upton for their valuable commentsand suggestions, while I worked on my dissertationat Texas Tech Univers…
Capital, saving & credit in peasant societies
Originally published in 1988. After nearly a decade of prosperity, rural America entered the 1980s with its agricultural base facing a severe financial crisis. Land values, export markets and the general demand for agricultural commodities were declining while the levels of inde…
In this detailed and comprehensive study of the relationship between peasants and Baniya usurers in western India, David Hardiman examines how and why usurers have, over the centuries, managed to exert their power over the peasantry. An explanation purely in terms of the economi…
