Microfinance and the poor

The impact of microfinance institutions development on the predicament of the poor remains a poorly understood issue. Several research questions are involved:

1) Are the poor discriminated against in the formation process of microfinance groups?

2) Are the poor more likely to be excluded from these groups over time and which are the precise motives for their exclusion?

3) Are the uses to which the poor allocate the money obtained through microfinance groups more or less productive or income generating than the uses chosen by the non-poor? 

This project seeks to answer these questions by combining theoretical analysis and empirical explorations.