Financial efficiency or relational harmony?

Rebecca Schaaf
Additional contact information
Rebecca Schaaf: Department of Social Sciences, Bath Spa University, Bath

Progress in Development Studies, 2010, vol. 10, issue 2, 115-129

Abstract: Groups and microfinance facilities are intended to produce a variety of economic, social and political outcomes. However, the debate in the development literature about their effectiveness heightens the importance of exploring whether multidimensional outcomes are actually achieved. Drawing on findings from empirical research in Northeast Thailand, where promotion of groups and microfinance schemes is strong, this article highlights the need to understand the context and existing relationships within which community groups and microfinance services are situated, in order to identify important characteristics and processes that limit the outcomes of the groups. In particular, the research illustrates how the groups’ operation has resulted in a trade-off in material and relational wellbeing outcomes, as financial efficiency is valued only to the extent that relational harmony can be assured.

Keywords: Microfinance; community groups; Thailand; wellbeing; collective action (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/146499340901000202 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:prodev:v:10:y:2010:i:2:p:115-129

DOI: 10.1177/146499340901000202

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Progress in Development Studies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().