The Microfinance Revolution: Sustainable Finance for the Poor
Robinson, M.
Publication Date: Jun 2001
Published by: World Bank
Document Type: Book
How do you build commercial finance that fits the needs of the world's poorest?
Marguerite Robinson's new book is a tour de force remarkable both for the breadth of its vision and for the wealth of experience it captures. Dr. Robinson folds page after page of telling information about real people and their financial behavior, and about real institutions and their achievements, into a vigorously argued -and sometimes controversial - synthesis.
The book is unusually wide-ranging in its scope, bringing together: - a global overview of microfinance, including its development over the last two decades,
- a coherent theory about how and why microfinance works,
- a thesis on the future of microfinance
- an especially strong treatment on microsavings,
- institutional experience from MFIs in seventeen different countries, and
- rich empirical detail on a number of important topics, including a fascinating treatment of moneylenders and their interest rates
I don't agree with everything in the book-for instance, I think there is a point or two where it may overstate the case for commercial microfinance. But it is a great book: I have no hesitation in recommending it as a must-read for the microfinance field
Review by Richard Rosenberg
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