A New Foundation for Microfinance Impact Studies - An Empirical Analysis on the Household Level in Uganda

This thesis tests the impact of microfinance banks on households in Uganda. The test hypothesis states that microfinance loans have a positive and significant impact on Ugandan household well-being. Two alternative specifications for household well-being are estimated and compared; one is based on a calculation of household consumption expenditure and the other on the total value of household non-land assets. Additionally, this paper is used to test a method that controls for the client self-selection bias. The results of the estimation were largely significant. The estimation for microfinance loan impact was positive, yet only in one of the two alternate models. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics and The World Bank Group provided access to the 1999 to 2000 cross-sectional data set used in this evaluation.

[Author's Abstract]