Global Politics of Microfinancing Poverty in Asia: The Case of Bangladesh Unpacked

Abstract

This article offers a critical and systematic political analysis of microfinance schemes linking international, national and local development policy. It substantiates the argument that microfinance schemes are a neoliberal development strategy, primarily advanced to realise a dual purpose: (1) financial sector liberalisation and commercialisation, while extending microfinance as a means to “poverty reduction”, and (2) the dampening and undermining of resistance to neoliberal development policies, by relying on the disciplinary potential of these schemes. I illustrate this argument through an examination of the politics of microfinance and development in Bangladesh, which includes analyses of policies prescribed by the World Bank (and also the CGAP). The analysis also draws out the implications (legal and institutional) for many NGOs who have been required to change their status to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). Microfinance schemes are exemplary of (new) efforts to build markets in Asia in accordance with neoliberal visions of development, and in ways that advance and capitalise on the contradictions of neoliberal development. But they also challenge us to reflect more deeply on the limits of “market society”.     

两种主张的较量与战后德国经济发展

战后德国经济是在左和右,即主张国家干预和自由经济,这两股社会和政治势力交互作用下发展起来的。前者主由社民党体现,后者由基民彤社民盟主张。最初这两股势力形成了有效互补,使得德国社会和经济进入高发展期,后来由于这两股势力彼此抗衡过度,失落了有效互补,社会体制失去活力,经济和社会进入发展低迷期。如今,德国经济一直挣扎在这样的发展困境中。     

民国时期江汉平原的粮食市场

粮食贸易在民国时期江汉平原的农村经济中占有重要地位,粮商及粮商组织、粮食加工和运输、粮食价格、粮食集散和粮食存储等几个方面反映了民国时期江汉平原的粮食市场的基本情况。粮食贸易将大量的基层市场、少量中间市场和几个中心市场联系在一起,粮食价格的趋同性表明这个地区当时存在着完整的粮食贸易体系,但相关市场特征又表明这个市场是不完善的。     

明清时期苏州文人与教育市场

明清时期,苏州的一些文人出于各种原因参与教育市场,并多根据自身的特点、条件从事治生活动,主要集中在授徒、就职于书院、卖文、刻书和撰稿等几个领域,其中一部分官员在去职后,也加入了治生队伍的行列.一部分文人获利不菲,亦有许多文人仅能维持生计.文人治生呈现出多样化的特点,这与当时的环境、思想观念的变化是密不可分的.     

非市场竞争条件下喀斯特洞穴旅游竞争研究

在市场竞争条件下,即游客为经济人的情况下,同一地域内洞穴类旅游地的空间竞争表现为替代性强的空间竞争,其结果为区位好、资源价值高、知名度大的洞穴替代区位差、资源价值低、知名度小的洞穴.而在非市场竞争条件下,同一地域内的洞穴旅游地空间竞争结果受到旅游地内外部复杂环境因素的影响,表现为不确定性.企业经营因素、政策因素等有可能超越资源、区位、知名度等因素,对洞穴类旅游地间的空间竞争格局的形成发挥作用,导致市场的重新分配.     

福建入境旅游市场中台湾客源市场特征分析

自1987年以来,台湾旅游客源市场在福建省入境旅游业中占据重要位置.该市场自从20世纪80年代开始,直到本世纪初以来,在客源结构、游客流向和旅游消费方面都发生了很大变化.分析入闽台湾客源市场特征,将有助于福建省旅游企业更有针对性地开发出适合台湾客源市场需求的旅游产品,最大限度地满足台湾入闽旅游者的旅游需求.     

The spatial extent of agglomeration economies across the wage earnings distribution

We investigate the spatial extent of agglomeration economies across the wage earnings distribution using economic mass (total employment) in four distance bands around each individual’s establishment in a quantile regression framework. We control for observable and unobservable individual and establishment characteristics. Remaining endogeneity in the model is assessed with a set of instrumental variables. Results indicate a positive effect of economic mass on wage earnings up to 25 km away from the establishment. The spatial extent of agglomeration economies is similar across the wage earnings distribution. However, increases in economic mass shift the wage earnings distribution in a nonsymmetric way.     

Daily urban systems explained from the household perspective: an exploratory research on how the spatial interactions of the individual households shape the structure of daily urban systems

The concept of the Daily Urban System (DUS) has gained relevance over the past decades as the entity to examine and explain the functionality of the urban landscape. Daily Urban Systems are usually defined and measured by the strength of commuter or shopper flows between the nodes of the system. It is important to realize that these Daily Urban Systems are the accumulated pattern of individuals making frequent, recurring trips to other localities than their own. Understanding the microeconomic decisions behind these spatial interactions will help in assessing the functional and spatial structure of DUS. In this paper is explored how, based on Dutch empirical data, the individual household’s spatial interactions shape the daily urban system and how the destination of these interactions correlates with personal and spatial variables and motives for interaction. The results show that the occurrence of non-local spatial interactions can be explained by the size-based Christallerian hierarchy of the localities of residence, but that it is the regional population – or market potential – that explains and moderates the sorting of households and the intensity and direction of their spatial interactions in the DUS, matching agglomeration theory.     

Does geographical location matter for ethnic wage gaps?

This paper analyzes ethnic wage gaps in Great Britain by comparing minorities to majority workers in the same local labor market and focuses on the variation of wage gaps across areas. As wage gaps vary across areas, using one single national measure may be misleading. Higher wage gaps across groups are associated with higher occupational segregation and ethnic diversity, while higher wage gaps within groups are associated with higher regional specialization and proportion of co-ethnics. Policies could help by improving job location and selection into occupations across groups.     

跨国公司地方嵌入新视角:基于地方劳工市场的研究进展与理论思考

20世纪90年代以来,跨国公司地方嵌入研究相对聚焦于资本密集型或技术密集型企业,而需要大量非熟练工人的劳动密集型跨国企业并未引起足够关注,建立在产业联系、技术外溢、社会网络等核心概念基础上的跨国公司地方嵌入分析框架很显然不能很好地解释劳动密集型跨国公司地方嵌入的理论与实践问题。在劳工地理学、新经济地理学等学科背景下,基于全球生产网络、关系嵌入、空间修复等核心概念,研究分别从劳工能动性的空间尺度、跨国公司地方嵌入的劳工要素、劳工管控对跨国公司的地方嵌入、区域劳工景观的空间修复等视角出发,系统梳理相关研究进展并提出未来主要研究议题,包括如何识别劳工供需因素对跨国公司地方嵌入的影响机制,如何剖析特殊劳工管控体制下劳工空间实践与能动性的关系,如何刻画跨国公司地方嵌入对区域劳工经济地理景观的影响,如何总结跨国公司地方嵌入与区域发展的战略耦合模式等。