Suchergebnisse

This work proposes an analysis of microcredit initiatives analyzed at the territorial level. The differences are analyzed on the basis of distinctive features to identify different ways to develop microcredit in Italy. An empirical analysis is also carried out to verify the existence of a statistically significant correlation between the characteristics of entrepreneurial microcredit programs and their default risk. The presence of credit guarantee systems and the role of bank intermediaries as promoters significantly mitigate the risk of default on these initiatives. Regional microcredit programs do not show significant territorial differences in terms of credit guarantees.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Agency for International Development's (AID) Initiative for Southern Africa program, focusing on the: (1) specific activities AID's Regional Center for Southern Africa conducted to implement the Initiative; (2) extent to which this regional program complements AID's bilateral programs in the region; and (3) challenges the Regional Center faces in implementing the Initiative."

Between 1994 and 1996, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) closed 23 country missions worldwide, of which eight were in West and Central Africa. To preserve United States support for family planning and reproductive health in four countries in that region, USAID created a subregional program through a consortium of US‐based groups that hired mainly African managers and African organizations. This study assesses cost‐effectiveness of the program through an interrupted time‐series design spanning the 1990s and compares cost‐effectiveness in four similar countries in which mission‐based programs continued. Key indicators include costs, contraceptive prevalence rates, and imputed "women‐years of protection." The study found that, taking into account all external financing for population and family planning, the USAID West Africa regional approach generated women‐years of protection at one‐third the cost of the mission‐based programs. This regional approach delivered family planning assistance in West Africa cost‐effectively, and the findings suggest that regional models may work well for many health and population services in small countries.

The need to promote increased trade, prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and ensure adequate water resources are some of the development challenges generating interest in increased regional and sub-regional cooperation. This evaluation seeks to provide guidance on when it is desirable for the Bank to support activities on a regional level, and assesses the effectiveness of both regional programs and the Bank's role in supporting them. It comes at a time of increasing interest in regional development programs, supported by recent theoretical work on regional public goods and regional trading arrangements, and calls from groups in the international development community for the Bank to provide more support for multi-country programs (both global and regional).