As we celebrate 50 years of modern microfinance activities, the special issue aims to underscore how high-quality research continues to shape the landscape of financial inclusion and industry development. As such, we aim to encompass both critical and optimistic perspectives on related phenomena, their manifestations, and record. We encourage submissions covering a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from impact studies to pure banking research, and welcome all types of research methodologies. Furthermore, with this special issue we invite greater dialogue between alternative finance and microfinance researchers, both introducing the journal to researchers interested in microfinance, and at the same time presenting the breath of microfinance research to the readers of the journal.
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
Please check out this call for papers for the Journal of Financial Services Research Special Issue on Social, Sustainable and Innovative Financial Services
At CERSEM we will definitely try our luck in this high quality journal, not to mention we would like to be associated with the great people editing the special issue:
Guest Editors Renée Adams, Anastasia Cozarenco, Steven Ongena In collaboration with Haluk Unal, Managing Editor of JFSR
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
It is with great pleasure that we would like to invite you to our workshop organized by the CERSEM team at the University of Agder. The workshop will take place on September 22-23 and will focus on group-based financial services, such as ROSCA and savings groups. We invite you to submit your working papers by June 15 as participation will be limited to the most promising research on the topic.
You can find more information here . Please feel free to share it widely to anyone interested in joining us for two days of exciting research discussions!
Savings groups is one of the World’s largest banking systems. Around 20 members group together and save from USD 0,1 to maybe USD 3 weekly. The money is lent out with interest to some of the members. Just like a bank. It is a fascinating model that really works. Members get access to basic financial services. Like in regular banking some groups do better than others. We use data mining techniques on a database containing more than 200 thousand groups. The question we answer is: “What drives profits in Savings Groups?” If interested in banking at the very bottom of the pyramid then you should read the paper. It is open access. You find it here: https://lnkd.in/dzjC6xFY.
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
We have a scholarship available for a PhD candidate interested in studying “PhD success factors and how it differs among candidates from emerging and western economies”. The project is a collaboration with www.researchhub.org
The aim of the PhD project is to investigate: (1) Whether the motivation in pursuing PhD education differ among candidates from the emerging and western economies?, (2) Do candidates from emerging economies do better or worse than their western peers in terms of success during and after PhD studies?, (3) What factors influence their results?, (4) Do they return to their countries? Are PhD educators contributing to brain gain or brain drainage in emerging economies?
Applications should be sent to roy.mersland@uia.no by the 1st of November, 2021
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
As director of our PhD program I consider my main job to find excellent PhD candidates. We only want the best: Those with a strong educational background coupled with talent and motivation. Now I am nervous because we are searching for lots of candidates in 4 different fields simultaneously. Please do some efforts and present these opportunities to your most talented students and in your networks. And share the opportunities at your Linkedin profile.
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
What drives PhD Success? Being program director of a large international PhD program I observe that some candidates finish their PhDs on time while others don’t. Some candidates become successful researchers already while pursuing their PhDs while others struggle even several years after graduating as PhDs. And I observe (and like) that at European PhD programs, including ours, a large share of candidates are from emerging economies. So I ask myself: What are the factors driving PhD success and does success differ among candidates from Emerging and western economies? Together with online learning platform for researchers – RESEARCH HUB – we now search for a talented PhD candidate. Are you or someone you know interested in these questions and interested in doing a fully funded PhD in Norway then you should click on this link and learn more about the opportunity: https://researchhub.org/call-for-phd-applications-what-drives-phd-success/
You may also send me an email.
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
Are you interested in doing a PhD on Savings groups? We are searching for two highly motivated and talented candidates for PhD studies at one of Europe’s leading PhD programs.
Savings groups are bottom of the pyramid banking systems that allow members access to basic savings and credit services. Around 20 persons are mobilized into a group where they contribute their own weekly savings and distribute these as loans to selected members as decided by the group. Several of the major international NGOs are active in mobilizing savings groups as they have proven to be efficient systems for simple banking services while at the same time they serve as generators of social capital for the members. Typically groups are trained, supervised and monitored for around one year and thereafter the groups are graduated and left alone.
Together with our sponsors, Stromme Foundation and Norwegian Association of the Disabled (NAD) in partnership with National Union of Disabled Persons in Uganda (NUDIPU), we now launch two new PhD research projects: 1) Performance of savings groups in West Africa, and 2) Disabled persons & savings groups.
Project 1: Stromme Foundation supports thousands of savings groups in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. They are interested in relevant research on what influences the performance of savings group in this region (open for all kinds of suggestions including for example: Resilience of groups faced with shocks; Survival of groups post graduation; Leadership of groups in relation to group performance; How “add-ons” like training in agriculture influences group performance; etc.
Project 2: For several years NUDIPU in partnership with NAD have managed a successful project called iSAVE were disabled persons are mobilized in savings groups. Today iSAVE has around 50 thousand members whereof 30 thousand are disabled. The aim of this research is to learn more about the effectiveness of iSAVE and factors influencing the performance of iSAVE groups. Of particular relevance is to include a “disability angle” in the research questions to be addressed.
Further details of the projects have not yet been decided. Thus, we invite interested candidates to suggest relevant research topics and write up short research proposals. The proposals must be well positioned in the academic literature while at the same time they should address research questions that are of practical relevance.
To carry out the research we are searching for two highly motivated and talented persons interested in doing a PhD in Norway. All university costs will be waived and each candidate will receive a scholarship of around EURO 1000,- per month to cover living costs. To qualify for this PhD opportunity you need to have a master’s degree (5 years of university (300 ECTS) with strong grades in a business school field. The master’s should include a full thesis. Preferably the education should be from an internationally recognized business school (AACSB accredited). Further, you need to be fluent in English (plus French for option 1) and have advanced knowledge in Econometrics.
If you possess these qualifications we would very much like to receive you application.
The application should be e-mailed to roy.mersland@uia.no and should contain the following:
-Educational certificates, with grades and transcripts
-summary of the Master’s thesis (max one page)
-minimum two letters with academic references
-complete list (not full papers) of scientific publications (if you have published in peer-reviewed journals already)
-other important documents like results from tests like GMAT/GRE/TOEFL etc. (if available)
-motivation/application letter including your knowledge of English and French and whether you prefer option 1 or option 2 (max one page)
The School of Business and Law at the University of Agder is a high-grade AACSB -accredited business school in Norway. Our PhD programme is one of Europe’s leading programmes in the field of International Business. We offer our candidates generous opportunities and equip them with a global mindset and modern research skills. Our graduates find prestigious jobs within and outside academia and they publish in high-ranked international journals. The programme includes around 50 candidates from across the globe working closely with their highly motivated supervisors. The PhD process is designed to take three years and we have one of Europe’s best track records when it comes to finishing a PhD on time.
The selected candidates will become part of the CERSEM research team – https://cersem.uia.no/ – which is one of Europe’s leading research centers in the field of microfinance. Moreover, you will work closely with a team of researchers from KU Leuven University in Belgium led by professor Bert D’Espallier. Together we make up the Worlds largest research group on Savings Groups.
Your application should be sent to roy.mersland@uia.no by the 1st of September. Thereafter we will carry out a careful selection process. Start-up of the PhD is planned to be in April 2022.
Are you looking for a very talented, young and ambitious researcher highly motivated to carry out applied development research?
Linda Nakato has been a tremendously bright PhD candidate, finishing her PhD in 3 years only. I have supervised her together with Prof Bert D’Espallier at KU Leuven in Belgium. Professor Alfredo Burlando at University of Oregon and professor Mary Kay Gugerty at University of Washington have served as external evaluators of Linda’s thesis. They were both highly satisfied and impressed by her work.
Linda has great interest in applied research in development issues. She prefers working in Africa but is open for suggestions from across the globe. Linda is a talent that should be grabbed immediately by a Research institute, a Think Tank, a development organization, an NGO or a university. I can guarantee that you will get a smart. likeable and passionate researcher willing to go the extra mile whenever needed. In particular you will get a very skilled person in statistics, data analyses and writing of reports. Linda is an expert, not only academically but also in practice, on grassroot organizations like savings groups, and she has a good understanding of development in general.
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
Great news: Recent information about vaccinations in Europe indicates that it is now very likely that the World Finance Conference will take place and that we can meet face-to-face here at Agder. So please read the information below and submit your papers:
Notice that we will have a special track on microfinance. This is therefore an unique opportunity to present microfinance papers at a high profiled high quality finance conference. Please submit your papers via the general conference submission link. Only high quality papers will be accepted. Welcome to Norway.
Best wishes, Roy Mersland Professor/Director PhD program Director Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance (CERSEM) School of Business and Law University of Agder https://cersem.uia.no/
