Taking Stock of A.I.D.'s Microenterprise Stocktaking Portfolio: Background and Conceptual Overview

摘要

The paper provides background for the Agency for International Development's (A.I.D.) microenterprise stocktaking. The paper's primary purpose is to examine a variety of ideas, enterprises, programs, and projects to find concepts that aid in understanding the complexities of microenterprise development. It begins by presenting an overview of the stocktaking exercise and examines the process of selecting the sample of cases for study and then presents a brief history of microenterprise development. It examines the nature and characteristics of the microenterprise sector and presents the framework for understanding the various approaches to microenterprise development. It goes on to focus on program performance from the standpoint of beneficiary impact, program cost-effectiveness, and institutional sustainability. It outlines five groups of operationally relevant project characteristics, or factors, that form the basis for analyzing the determinants of project performance.