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The contextualization of a microfinance model: From India to South Africa
Lin Lerpold,
Corresponding Author
Lin Lerpold
Associate professor, Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) Sustainability Research Group
Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Marketing and Strategy, Sustainability Research Group, Holländargatan 32, Box 6501, Se-11383 Stockholm, SwedenSearch for more papers by this authorLin Lerpold,
Corresponding Author
Lin Lerpold
Associate professor, Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) Sustainability Research Group
Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Marketing and Strategy, Sustainability Research Group, Holländargatan 32, Box 6501, Se-11383 Stockholm, SwedenSearch for more papers by this authorAbstract
Microfinance has come to be seen as the “magic bullet” to alleviate poverty across the world. Focus has been on scaling up “successful” models within, and beyond, singular cultural settings. We explore why different stakeholder groups perceived the same microfinance model as successful in India, yet less successful in South Africa. The study is an explorative case study, combining the literature on social capital and contextualization, and suggests that historical, socioeconomic, and legislative antecedents to social capital in India are different in South Africa, thus resulting in a lower perception of microfinance success in South Africa. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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