The New Microfinance Handbook reflects the current frontier of our collective thinking and experience. It starts with the need to understand the demand side. Poor households in the informal economy are producers and consumers. They need access to the full range of financial services to generate income, build assets, smooth consumption, and manage risks. The global financial inclusion agenda recognizes these broader needs.

This final report is the culmination of a year’s work on financial services provision and prevention of financial exclusion by experts in fourteen countries in Europe.

The term “Social Capital” is used by academics and practitioners to describe various elements that interact to steer and create societal or community value. Before addressing the specifics of social capital investment and returns as they will be discussed in this paper, it should be recognized that there are many types of capital. At a minimum, there is financial capital, physical capital, human capital, social capital, natural capital and manufactured capital. It is important to understand that current social capital discussions take place within this larger capital context.

The Study reviewed current available literature regarding FEI establishment and implementation. This was complemented by inputs from an internet survey, national interviews in the 27 Member States and Croatia, and a detailed analysis of a representative sample of 50 revolving fund case studies.

The present paper with the findings of the research on “Stimulating Youth Entrepreneurship: Barriers and Incentives to Enterprise Start-ups by Young People” continues the SEED Series on Youth and Entrep reneurship initiated in 2003 by a research on awareness and promotion programmes in formal and non-formal education entitled “Facilitating Youth Entrepreneurship”, thus c ontributing to the knowledge about creation of youth employment opportunities through entrepreneurship development.

This survey captures data and market perspectives from 125 impact investors. As in previous years, we focused on investing organizations from foundations to financial institutions and did not include individual investors. To ensure that survey participants are managing a meaningful volume of impact investment assets, we set a criterion for participation such that only respondents that manage USD 10mm or more of impact investment capital are included. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) collected and collated the data, making the data set anonymous before sending to J.P.

This report reviews the implications of the expansion of FIs for the LRAs in the new MFF. It will first describe the rationale for the use of financial instruments for territorial development and their role during the 2007-2013 MFF. It will then analyse the implications for LRAs, first on the rationale and logic for LRAs to set up and promote such instruments, followed on a discussion on the ability of the LRAs to access the financial instruments as beneficiaries.

Social investment can offer entrepreneurs the chance to scale up their impact tremendously, but it can also lead to unintended consequences, such as a change in strategic direction, a divergence from the original values and mission of the enterprise, a distancing from direct engagement with the community it is serving, or a loss of control over the organizational culture. Given this, the need for a manual is ever more important for social entrepreneurs.

The second Global Financial Development Report seeks to contribute to the evolving debate on financial inclusion. It follows the inaugural 2013 Global Financial Development Report, which re-examined the state’s role in finance following the global financial crisis. Both reports seek to avoid simplistic views, and instead take a nuanced approach to financial sector policy based on a synthesis of new evidence.

This report aims to inform financial policymakers and regulators on how to develop a strategy for gathering financial inclusion data using surveys of different kinds. Depending on the financial resources and skills available, as well as stakeholder appetite for data, these strategies can range from simply leveraging already available data sets, to modifying existing surveys to include new questions on financial inclusion, or even to designing and implementing a new financial survey.