ECON 101 UCSD Development Economics Discussion – Description
Microfinance evaluation
For this project, you will be analyzing a microfinance loan on the platform kiva.org.
Go to the following link to join our Kiva class team: https://www.kiva.org/invitedto/econ_365_20202023/by/hisham1128Links to an external site.
Create an account on Kiva if you don’t already have one
Click on Lend. You will be presented with a long list of potential microfinance loans to make. You can narrow your search by country, gender, sector, group/individual lending, etc.
Search for a loan in your country. If you cannot find one in your country that you think is worthy of funding, search for a loan either in a neighboring country or one that is at a similar level of development.
In making your decision, you should consider not only the needs and performance of the borrower, but also the field partner that will be managing this loan. Each loan page will have a link that gives you more information about the field partner. Kiva has ratings on these field partners in terms of subjective measures of social performance as well as quantitative financial information
You have the option of making a loan or not. If you want to make a loan, go ahead and lend $25 (or more if you want). You will have the option of donating to Kiva’s operations, though this is optional (you will have to opt out). If you would rather not make a loan, that is fine. You will still complete this project as though you did make the loan (no extra points for actually lending money).
For your write up, you will present a brief overview of the loan and analyze the microfinance partner.
Part 1: Evaluating the microfinance partner
Write a brief summary of the loan that explains how much is being borrowed and what the money will be used for.
Analyze the field partner (i.e. the microfinance institution that will actually administer the loan). On the right side of the loan page, the field partner is listed. Click on the arrow to expand the information and then click on the link that says “More about X” where X is the name of the field partner
What is the stated mission of the field partner?
How long has the field partner been in operation and has Kiva reported any notable status changes?
What is their risk rating? What are their rates of delinquency and loans at risk? What is their default rate? Do they charge interest and fees? What is their average cost to borrowers? What is their average profitability?
After collecting the data above, compare these numbers to other field partners on Kiva (scroll down and you should see a table with data for your field partner and aggregate figures for all field partners). Is your field partner safer or riskier than average? Do they charge borrowers more? Are they more profitable?
Part 2: Borrower narrative
Evaluate the terms of the loan: How much money is the borrower seeking? What will the monthly payments be? How large is this monthly payment relative to average income in the borrower’s country?
Discuss why you chose this particular borrower as opposed to others? What factors influenced you? Geography, gender, sector, group/individual lending?
Given what we have learned about development economics and the data you collected in your economic profile, how will your loan contribute to economic development in the borrower’s country? Be specific about the particular issue that your loan addresses and why the loan you are making will promote development.
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