An Analysis of Factors Influencing Household Income: A Case Study of PACT Microfinance in Kyaukpadaung Township of Myanmar

Abstract

The study investigates factors influencing the household income of both clients and non-clients and effect of microfinance on clients' socioeconomic characteristics on establishing new enterprises. It uses Cobb-douglas functional form and Logistic regression model with a total sample size of 162 respondents [102 (clients) and 60 (non-clients)]. The empirical results from the model indicate that most common important influencing factor on household income is education. Educational level has a strongly positive impact on household income, suggesting that a client with a higher educational level can generate more income than one with a lower educational level. The results of the pool analysis show that six independent variables—age of the head of household, gender of the head of household, educational level of the head of household, land holding size, number of crops, and established new enterprise—have a significant influence on household income. We found that starting new enterprises is one of the most important factors for increasing the household income of clients. In order to establish new enterprises, the local government should pay more attention to the basic infrastructure requirement, market access facilities in the study area. Private Agency Collaborating Together (PACT) should focus on business training skills, apart from the provision of loans, to create sustainable microenterprises and other economic activities that increase the income of households.