• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.727-739
• /
• 2021

Over the past decades, the Jordanian government has made great efforts to help poor women start small businesses by providing microcredit and facilitating financial services. Although in Jordan almost hundreds of thousands of women have the ability to contribute more fully to their economy, they are reluctant to do so. Women's participation in economic activities in 2016 was only 13.2%, while the unemployment rate for Jordanian women was 24.1%. The decline in women's participation in small business management has gradually become an important issue following the trial of more than 13,000 Jordanian women for non-payment of their micro-loans. This study aims to identify the factors that hinder Jordanian women from achieving job stability. In this qualitative study, a semi-structured interview method with sixteen open-ended questions was used to collect relevant data. A purposeful sampling method is also used to select participants. To analyze the data, this study used NVivo 11 software as a method. Using System Theory, this study showed that women's failure depends on three factors: women entrepreneurs, the environment around women entrepreneurs, and micro-financial institutions. Findings of this study suggest that strengthen women's entrepreneurship sustainability and minimize the risk of failure should be done through integrated strategies include these three domains.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.643-655
• /
• 2021

This study investigated the effect of the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) microfinancing on the economic, social, and household empowerment of women borrowers in Malaysia. The study used a quantitative approach based on primary data. For this study, the participants comprised 384 AIM borrowers from Terengganu, Kelantan, and Pahang in the east coast region of Malaysia. Purposive stratified random sampling was used as well as the Krejcie and Morgan method to count the number of samples. Descriptive statistics and the Women Empowerment Index (WEI) were used in the analysis. The study findings reveal that AIM microfinancing affects the economic, social, and household empowerment of women borrowers in Malaysia. However, in comparing the three categories, women enjoyed more freedom in social and household decision-making than in economic decision-making. The present study recommends policies for the successful and effective operation of microfinance programs by providing the necessary guidelines for the control of AIM loan for women borrowers; increasing income-generating activities, sufficient access of credit, and proper education for the borrowers; and giving economic freedom of choice with necessary skill training policymaking options for the government and NGOs with the aim to improve the total household income and empowerment of the microcredit borrowers in Malaysia.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.377-402
• /
• 2003

This study aims at analysing basic operational grounds of regional financial institutions in Pusan. Since 1980s many papers have discussed the issues how to develop the regional financial market. But they have neglected regional financial institutions and failed to clarify their roles in the regional economy. Recently the central government expels many regional financial institutions under financial distresses from the regional financial market without assessing their roles in the regional economy. This paper shows that regional financial institutions are indispensible for the stability and development of the regional economy, especially because they can supply credit to the small firms and households which have vulnerable credit standings and are tightly constrained in their access to bank credit. This paper also examines how credit unions deal with the problems caused by asymmetric information after the collapse of solidarity.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.77-90
• /
• 2023

This study aims to investigate the potential of alternative credit assessment through Social Networking Sites (SNS) as a complementary tool to conventional loan review processes. It seeks to discern the impact of SNS usage characteristics and loan product attributes on credit loan repayment. To achieve this objective, we conducted a binomial logistic regression analysis examining the influence of SNS usage patterns, loan characteristics, and personal attributes on credit loan conditions, utilizing data from Company A's credit loan program, which integrates SNS data into its actual loan review processes. Our findings reveal several noteworthy insights. Firstly, with respect to profile photos that reflect users' personalities and individual characteristics, individuals who choose to upload photos directly connected to their personal lives, such as images of themselves, their private circles (e.g., family and friends), and photos depicting social activities like hobbies, which tend to be favored by individuals with extroverted tendencies, as well as character and humor-themed photos, which are typically favored by individuals with conscientious traits, demonstrate a higher propensity for diligently repaying credit loans. Conversely, the utilization of photos like landscapes or images concealing one's identity did not exhibit a statistically significant causal relationship with loan repayment. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between the extent of SNS usage and the likelihood of loan repayment. However, the level of SNS interaction did not exert a significant effect on the probability of loan repayment. This observation may be attributed to the passive nature of the interaction variable, which primarily involves expressing sympathy for other users' comments rather than generating original content. The study also unveiled the statistical significance of loan duration and the number of loans, representing key characteristics of loan portfolios, in influencing credit loan repayment. This underscores the importance of considering loan duration and the quantity of loans as crucial determinants in the design of microcredit products. Among the personal characteristic variables examined, only gender emerged as a significant factor. This implies that the loan program scrutinized in this analysis does not exhibit substantial discrimination based on age and credit scores, as its customer base predominantly consists of individuals in their twenties and thirties with low credit scores, who encounter challenges in securing loans from traditional financial institutions. This research stands out from prior studies by empirically exploring the relationship between SNS usage and credit loan repayment while incorporating variables not typically addressed in existing credit rating research, such as profile pictures. It underscores the significance of harnessing subjective, unstructured information from SNS for loan screening, offering the potential to mitigate the financial disadvantages faced by borrowers with low credit scores or those ensnared in short-term liquidity constraints due to limited credit history a group often referred to as "thin filers." By utilizing such information, these individuals can potentially reduce their credit costs, whereas they are supposed to accrue a more substantial financial history through credit transactions under conventional credit assessment system.