A review of the Amanah Ikthiar Malaysia (AIM) microcredit program in Malaysia shows that this program is helping increase local entrepreneurs’ wealth and well-being. A study titled, “Effectiveness of microcredit program and determinants of income among small business entrepreneurs in Malaysia” published in the Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research looked at the AIM-administered program, and measured it on four dimensions, and found the program effective on all four.
The article’s authors, Rika Terano, Zainalabidin Mohamed and Jarir Hakimi H. Jusri, of the University Putra Malaysia, identified these four dimensions as:
- Earning ability
- Payment scheme
- Members’ cooperation
- Well-being.
They surveyed 100 micro-credit program members, and they describe the demographic profile as:
The mean age of respondents was 39 years old and were all female. The majority of respondents have completed elementary school as educational background, however only 24 of them have diplomas. Majority of the respondent were married with average family size 4.5 persons per household. Average years of involving in running the business were 5.3 years. While average years in receiving AIM microcredit was 2.5 years.
What they found was that the AIM program helped improve income, and well-being; and that participants were able to meet the repayment schemes, and also improved on cooperating with other credit recipients.
You can find the entire article here.
