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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

micro enterprise, women, United States, lesser-developed countries

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Political Science

Abstract

Introduction: The problem of development and economic disparity does not reside solely in Lesser-developed Countries (LDCs). Micro-credit is at work in forty-three countries, including the United States (New York Times 1997, 8). In the United States, a majority of the country’s poor reside in slums and low-income housing projects. Most of these people do not own the land on which they reside or the apartment or house in which they live and many are dependent on welfare. Because of these factors, many poor people cannot receive loans from traditional lending institutions. Recently, however, organizations like Accion International, a micro lending institution, has implemented in the United States the same methodology pioneered in Bangladesh and other LDCs (Pham 1996, DI).

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