Microfinance and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Evaluation, Constraints and Opportunities (DEMAC)

DEMAC is a European Science Foundation Workshop from the 2008 cycle.

The proposed workshop brings together scholars in development, financial, and behavioural economics, experts in programme and policy evaluation, as well as microfinance practitioners, to discuss microcredit programmes designed to reduce poverty and foster micro-entrepreneurship in developing countries. The focus will be on integrating theoretical and empirical work in the area and on developing collaborations between practitioners and academics in the area of policy formulation and evaluation. The workshop will improve our understanding of the multifaceted links between micro-entrepreneurship and poverty reduction. The resulting research will lead to the formulation of better policies aimed at reducing poverty in developing countries.

With these goals in mind the workshop will be organized around two main themes.
Theme 1: Evaluation of Micro-Credit Programmes' Impact on Micro-Businesses
First, the workshop will discuss work that has carefully evaluated the impact of existing microcredit schemes on a variety of outcomes related to the performance of micro-business. In addition to providing careful evaluation of current practices and policy options, the review of this recent work (which is mostly still in progress) provides a background of facts regarding the extent to which financial constraints are the main cause of the failure of small-businesses to scale-up and will also highlight the common methodological traits of empirical work in the area.
Theme 2: Contractual Innovations in Micro-Credit Programmes
Second, the workshop will investigate how specific contractual elements in microcredit schemes impact upon the investment behaviour of clients.

Overview and Structure

The workshop will be organised over two days. Approximately 20-25 people will participate in the conference. Web- and email-based means will be used to advertise the workshop to scholars throughout Europe and beyond. A scientific committee will oversee the selection of papers and participants for the conference. The committee will ensure that internationally recognised standards are met, that there is a strong inter-disciplinary content to the workshop, and that opportunities are provided to female and junior researchers to participate in the workshop. The scientific committee will comprise Greg Fischer (LSE), Rocco Macchiavello (Oxford) and Imran Rasul (UCL)

The workshop will be hosted by Nuffield College, in Oxford (UK). The host organiser will be Dr. Rocco Macchiavello. The venue has been chosen because of its long record in successfully organizing similar events and for the outstanding facilities already in place. Nuffield College will provide appropriate logistic, I.T. and secretarial support. The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) will handle the overall administration of this meeting and provide budgetary monitoring and financial management support. CEPR is currently managing over 30 research projects, including a number of study contracts for institutions such as the European Commission and the Fondation Banque de France. As such, the administrative support from CEPR comes along with the expertise of its experienced meetings team who organise workshops, conferences and seminars, facilitating communication between different partner institutions in projects and is a further guarantee of success in the overall organization of the workshop.

Nuffield College has offered to pay for two lunches, one dinner and refreshments over the two days of the conference, should this application be successful. The College will also be able to provide accommodation for some of the participants at substantially lower rates than comparable external accommodation. Approximately, we quantify this support to imply savings of around 3500 Euros.

Coordinator	Institution
Robin Burgess	London School of Economics and CEPR
Greg Fischer	London School of Economics
Rocco Macchiavello***	Oxford University (Nuffield College) and CEPR
Imran Rasul	University College London and CEPR
	***Main Applicant