[KSCI] Korea Science Citation Index Service

http://dx.doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no8.0433

Microfinance and the Rural Poor: Evidence from Thai Village Funds

SRISUKSAI, Pithak (School of Economics, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University)

Publication Information

The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business / v.8, no.8, 2021 , pp. 433-442 More about this Journal

Abstract

This research examines the financial performance of Village and Urban Community Funds (VFs). The study also explores the beneficial effects of the biggest microfinance programs in the world in the lower and lowest income provinces; specifically, whether VFs change household economic status or not. The data is collected uniquely from the village funds in four provinces of each region in Thailand which considerably reflect the government achievement. Accordingly, several financial ratios have been applied to evaluate the financial efficiency of the village funds, and the ordered logit model has been used to estimate the impact on economic variables of the poor. The findings show that the village funds do not improve the savings, income, consumption, and asset of VFs' members, although such funds have a higher financial performance. Furthermore, the VFs are a good substitute compared to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) credit because the cross-price elasticity of quantity of demand for such loans is positive. In particular, the loans from village funds are insignificantly correlated with the debt, income, asset, and economic status of VF members. This implies that Thai Village Funds do not alleviate definitely the serious problem about the financial situation in rural provinces. Thus, this microfinance does not change the economic well-being of the poor.

Keywords

Microfinance; Village Fund; Financial Ratio; Economic Status; Poor;

Citations & Related Records

Reference

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