Combating financial exclusion through co-operatives: is there a role for external assistance?
✍ Scribed by Ben Rogaly
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 170 KB
- Volume
- 10
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0954-1748
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Despite the decline of the large British mutuals and the poor record of aidfunded and government-managed co-operative credit institutions internationally, there has recently been renewed policy interest in using co-operatives to combat exclusion from access to ®nancial services. This article examines the relation between the governance and the performance of eight dierent types of co-operative ®nancial institution, highlighting in each case the institution's speci®c links with external organizations. Co-operative governance varies greatly, is in¯uenced by the nature of external assistance, and has an impact on performance. Available evidence suggests that scale of outreach is related to ®nancial viability but that excessive concern with these two goals can have negative consequences for the depth of outreach. However, mutuality in governance can be exclusive and does not necessarily lead to greater depth of outreach either. The article ends with conclusions as to how public sector and international organizations can best enhance co-operatives' capacity to increase access to ®nancial services.