Microfinance Group Processes and Crises: Responses to Economic and Psychological Threats

We examine micro-finance institutions (MFI) group processes simulating potential default by members, often the tipping point of crises. Using structural equation methods to develop measurement models and experimental methodology to test causal effects of economic and psychological threats we effectively capture the risks perceived by individual borrowers. We defined these threats in terms of a given financial loss and reputation loss. The results show that members make the subtle distinction between different types of peer pressure and joint liability. We also show that psychological threats perceived by borrowers are key to understanding MFI group processes, especially as triggers to a repayment crisis.     

Globalsearch: The International Search for Missing and Exploited Children

Technology has had a profound and immeasurable impact on our lives, our work and our social concerns. In perhaps what could be considered unique and completely unprecedented, technology has had a revolutionary impact on the way our world now searches for its missing children. State-of-the-art computer technology has made it possible to show the public what long-term missing children might look like today. Data mining gives law enforcement agencies the personal information they need to track wanted abductors. And, of course, with the advent of the Internet, the world has become a much smaller place for perpetrators to hide.     

Are there “women’s crops”? A new tool for gender and agriculture

A “Gender Control Tool” was developed to measure women’s control over decision-making for agricultural production, sales, and use of income. The tool was tested for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia, where mechanisation has increased male participation in groundnut shelling, and for goats in Gwanda district, Zimbabwe, where the introduction of auctions has increased investment and sales. A mixed methods approach was used, that involved focus group discussions (FGDs) and a quantitative household survey. This article compares the results obtained from these two methods and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the tool in understanding how commercialisation affects women’s control.