Rosemary Emegu Isoto and David Simon Kraybill
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on microcredit impacts by quantifying the gender disaggregated effects of long-term borrowing on capital accumulation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on microcredit impacts by quantifying the gender disaggregated effects of long-term borrowing on capital accumulation in order to address the existing gap. Separate models are estimated for male-headed and female-headed households to determine if the effects of microcredit differ between these gender types.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts the method proposed by Deaton (1990) in which he specifies a model without borrowing restrictions whereby the household maximizes an inter-temporal utility function. To account for self-selection and endogeneity of micro credit, the fixed effects instrumental variable approach is used. Data are disaggregated by gender and analyzed separately.
Findings
The paper finds that micro credit indeed increases productive assets and human capital but has no significant effect on non-productive assets. One striking result is that after disaggregating the data by gender, the authors find no effect of micro credit on women-headed households.
Practical implications
The paper provides an empirical evidence for the need to address gender issues in finance and lending. Furthermore, targeted lending particularly to women makes a great difference in the fight against poverty.
Originality/value
This paper fills the gap on gender and micro credit impacts on capital accumulation in a developing country context.
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Carel Roessingh and Michiel Verver
A central theme in the literature on entrepreneurship in remote communities – be they religious, indigenous, rural or migrant communities – is the balance between continuity and…
Abstract
Purpose
A central theme in the literature on entrepreneurship in remote communities – be they religious, indigenous, rural or migrant communities – is the balance between continuity and change or tradition and modernity and the role of entrepreneurship in maintaining or uprooting this balance. The purpose of this paper is to examine this dynamic in the context of Springfield, a small settlement of Old Order Mennonites in Belize, Central America.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on ethnographic research conducted in the Mennonite settlement of Springfield, Belize, between 2002 and 2019, as well as written correspondence with key stakeholders from Springfield.
Findings
This paper identifies three issues of contention between the Springfield Mennonites and the Belizean state: the agricultural census issue, the buying land issue and the cow tagging issue. Each of these revolves around state demands for assimilation into (digitalized) administrative systems and Mennonite resistance to these demands based on their religious-moral code. This study describes the negotiations around these issues.
Originality/value
The focus in most literature on entrepreneurship in remote communities is on how internal community dynamics shape the balance between continuity and change and, in extension, the space for entrepreneurship. The originality of the paper lies in shifting the focus to the relationship between the community and external stakeholders, especially the state.
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Keywords
Abstract
Details
Keywords
Michiel Verver, David Passenier and Carel Roessingh
Literature on immigrant and ethnic minority entrepreneurship almost exclusively focusses on the west, while neglecting other world regions. This neglect is problematic not only…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature on immigrant and ethnic minority entrepreneurship almost exclusively focusses on the west, while neglecting other world regions. This neglect is problematic not only because international migration is on the rise outside the west, but also because it reveals an implicit ethnocentrism and creates particular presumptions about the nature of ethnic minority entrepreneurship that may not be as universally valid as is often presumed. The purpose of this paper is to examine ethnic minority entrepreneurship in non-western contexts to critically assess two of these presumptions, namely that it occurs in the economic margins and within clear ethnic community boundaries.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on academic literature (including the authors’ own) to develop two case descriptions of ethnic minority entrepreneurship outside the west: the Mennonites in Belize and the Chinese in Cambodia. For each case, the authors describe the historic entrepreneurial trajectory, i.e. the historical emergence of entrepreneurship in light of relevant community and society contexts.
Findings
The two cases reveal that, in contrast to characterisations of ethnic minority entrepreneurship in the west, the Mennonites in Belize and the Chinese in Cambodia have come to comprise the economic upper class, and their business activities are not confined to ethnic community boundaries.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to elaborate the importance of studying ethnic minority entrepreneurship outside the west, both as an aim in itself and as a catalyst to work towards a more neutral framework.
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Q.B. Chung, Wenhong Luo and William P. Wagner
To propose a framework with which to study the efficacy of strategic alliances of small firms in knowledge industries, with an emphasis on research design to examine the issues…
Abstract
Purpose
To propose a framework with which to study the efficacy of strategic alliances of small firms in knowledge industries, with an emphasis on research design to examine the issues surrounding the phenomena.
Design/methodology/approach
A framework is developed that consists of four constructs, namely conditions, roles and contributions, learning, and efficacy. Details of the constructs are explained.
Findings
Management consulting industry proves to be a fertile research ground to study strategic alliances with regard to firm size. Through an illustration, it is shown that the proposed framework can be put into practice to investigate relevant research questions.
Research limitations/implications
The framework has limited generalizability to situations where the clients of the knowledge‐intensive service are not clearly defined up front.
Practical implications
Knowledge industries will benefit from developing taxonomy of expertise. Client firms may benefit from encouraging small firm to form strategic alliances.
Originality/value
The contribution is threefold; identification of the interplay of firm size and the practice of alliance formation in knowledge industries as a viable research topic; a framework with which to examine the efficacy of strategic alliances of small firms in knowledge industries; and proposing to expand the knowledge management research beyond intra‐firm learning.