Doctoral Dissertation Research Rural Microcredit as a Livelihood Strategy: The Political Economy of a Nicaraguan Village

博士候选人Courtney Kurlanska（纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校）在Walter Little博士的指导下，将对尼加拉瓜农村农人使用小额信贷作为一种谋生策略进行研究。本研究将考察小额信贷的可获得性如何影响生计决策，重点强调年龄和性别等不同因素。将小额信贷作为解决贫困的一种方式的转变，刺激了全球小额贷款项目的爆炸式增长，其中许多是针对妇女和青年等特定群体的。基于民族志方法，本研究将研究将小额信贷和小额融资作为发展中国家农户使用的众多经济战略之一的使用情况。通过访谈、参与者观察和家庭支出跟踪相结合，本研究将考虑如何做出生计决定，以及获得小额信贷如何改变这些决定。除了关于家庭经济策略的数据外，该研究还将调查借款人和贷款组织代表对小额信贷的信念和态度。这项研究意义重大，因为它将有助于更好地了解借款人对小额信贷的使用情况，以及向一些家庭成员提供资源而拒绝向其他人提供同样机会的社会影响。随着发展组织继续推进这一战略，将其作为解决贫困问题的关键组成部分，了解小额贷款的经济和社会影响变得至关重要。

Doctoral candidate Courtney Kurlanska (SUNY Albany), under the direction of Dr. Walter Little, will be conducting research on the use of microcredit as a livelihood strategy among rural Nicaraguan agriculturalists. This study will examine how the availability of microfinance influences livelihood decisions highlighting different factors such as age and gender. The shift towards microcredit as a solution to poverty has spurred an explosion of microlending programs around the globe many of which are targeted at specific groups such as women and youth. Based on an ethnographic approach, this research will study the use of microcredit and microfinance as one of many economic strategies used by agricultural households in developing countries. Through a combination of interviews, participant observation and the tracking of household expenses this research will consider how livelihood decisions are made and how access to microcredit alters those decisions. In addition to data on household economic strategies the research will also investigate the beliefs and attitudes towards microcredit of both borrowers and those representing lending organizations. This research is significant because it will contribute to a better understanding of the use of microcredit by borrowers and the social implications of providing resources to some members of a household while denying the same opportunity to others. Understanding both the economic and social implication of microlending becomes crucial as development organizations continue to move forward with this strategy as a key component of the solution to poverty.