The Impact of Microfinance on Poverty Alleviation: The Case of Pakistan

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of microfinance on poverty alleviation in Pakistan using district-level panel data. We conduct fixed effect panel regressions to show a statistically significant positive impact of microfinance on household income, ownership of household assets, education, and expenditure. These results suggest that the development of microfinance is an efficient tool for both welfare improvement and poverty alleviation in Pakistan.