Microcredit's impact on wellbeing. A study of Colombia rural and urban areas in 2013 and 2016

María Del Mar ANDRADE

Master's thesis

Microfinance as a tool for reconciliation and reducing inequality in post-conflict areas

Abstract:

This research work answers the question Which is the effect of microcredit on wellbeing in Colombia? Through the comparison of rural and urban areas in two separate time lapses in 2013 and 2016. In order to do so, this work will review the concepts of capability approach, multidimensional poverty, inequality of opportunities and how these have been treated from the perspective from microcredit. To test the effect of microcredit in Colombia, this sutdy will assess the impact of access to credit on Household wealth, Education enrollment of young population and Affiliation to health services. The hypothesis will be tested through propensity score matching and will verify its results through ordered logit regression models. Findings of the study suggests that having access to credit impacts positively the wealth level of the Household but is not statistically significant for education and health services. Specifically, findings suggest that in urban and rural areas the impact of having credit is the same for household conditions, contrary on the impact on education and health which is not significant neither for rural nor urban areas.

Keywords

Microcredit, Colombia, Inequality, Multidimensional Poverty, Capability Approach, Propensity Score Matching

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 31. 5. 2021

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: prof. Gianni Vaggi, Fouzi Mourji

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Science

Master programme / field:
Geography / International Development Studies