| In this dissertation, I examine the social processes of economic development through the lens of microenterprise and microfinance. In the first empirical chapter, I demonstrate how the strength of officer-client relationships in a microfinance bank influences officers' tendency to persist in working with problem clients. In the second empirical chapter, I show how the challenges of working with the poor affect officers' tenure at a microfinance institution. In the third empirical chapter, I examine how household-level financial constraints make it difficult for poor entrepreneurs to keep novel products and services on the market. Beyond advancing our understanding of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance, this dissertation extends the sociology of economic development by connecting micro-level processes with their meso- and macro-level outcomes. It points to the importance of relational ties between organizational actors and their clients in shaping economic growth and highlights the potential for poor entrepreneurs to act as catalysts for local and regional economic development. |
