微型貸款改善菲律賓貧困之研究

Abstract

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Poverty affects nearly 19.99 million people in the Philippines alone, and one of the tools created to mitigate this issue is microloans. Although this topic has been explored in other countries, the impact of microloans has not been investigated at the national level in the Philippines. These existing studies have also found that while microloans can be said to yield positive outcomes, such as reducing business costs and increasing income, they often have shortcomings. These include being unable to reach their target borrowers, being difficult to repay, and even causing their borrowers to fall deeper into debt. As such, this paper aims to determine the effect of microfinance loans on the country's poverty levels through quantitative methods, specifically through regression analysis using secondary data collected by government institutions for each of the 17 regions in the Philippines. The findings conclude that microcredit has little to no impact on poverty. In line with these, it is recommended that microfinance institutions improve their screening processes for borrowers as this can help to ensure that they have the ability to repay the loans and that they will use the funds for their intended purpose.