Small Business Promotion and Microlending: A Comparative Assessment of Jamaican and Israeli NGOs

This paper compares and contrasts loan programs in Israel and Jamaica in order to identify common elements of project design, selection, and institutional norms. Using agency theory, the article examines the types of borrowers successfully navigate the credit market and to what extent the bureaucratic processes employed by institutions influence and bias outcomes in unpredicted ways in organizations.

The author finds that entrepreneurs come from a wide range of background which allows them to provide the newness of perspective so necessary for their activities. However:

• Hidden institutional biases were found to work against diversity, limiting the impact of efforts to sustain an entrepreneurial culture and to promote economic development;
• Characteristics of the lowest level of organizational actor(s) were found to differentiate successful innovation from unsuccessful attempts;
• Selection of the appropriate staff was found to influence the quality and nature of the tasks assigned, and the direction and choice of organizational activities.