Strategic Alliances to Scale Up Financial Services in Rural Areas

Gallardo, Joselito ; Goldberg, Michael ; Randhawa, Bikki

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: AGRICULTURAL BANKS;    AGRICULTURAL CREDIT;    AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS;    AGRICULTURAL GROWTH;    AGRICULTURE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-6603-5
RP-ID  :  35923

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Firms have employed strategic allianceswith other firms to effectively manage costs, overcomeresource and technology constraints, and enhance competitiveposition. Strategic alliances can lead to productiveinstitutional collaborations in rural financial markets,thereby expanding the array of financial products, andscaling up access of rural households and micro-businessesto financial services. Strategic alliances comprise a newtheme in rural finance. The institutions in the study usedstrategic alliances to tap new capital resources, managetransaction costs, access banking technology andinfrastructure, and acquire new skills to provide anexpanding array of financial services to wider markets. Theauthors carefully examine the experiences of selected ruralfinance institutions, and their strategic allies ordevelopment partners in Guatemala, the Philippines, Ghana,and India to draw out the main findings and share lessonsthat may be applied in other country settings. The studyaddressed a number of key questions: What motivated therural finance institution to structure its alliance orpartnership with a bank, commercial, or developmentorganization? How are gains from and costs of alliances andpartnerships shared between collaborating institutions? Whatare the key elements that make partnerships or alliancessuccessful, and which conditions lead to unproductive ones?Which financial products and services are best introducedthrough strategic alliances?