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A Probe on Nonparticipation in Microfinance: Case for
Bangladesh

(ohammad ). )shra*
)ssistant Pro*essor and Head& +epartment o* ,conomics& -nited International -ni.ersit/& $#0$) +hanmandi
+ha1a '2#2
,mail3 mashra*4eco.uiu.ac.5d

6his paper is a part o* (ohammad )shra*7s +octoral +issertation in -ni.ersit/ -tara (ala/sia (--().

Abstract
6he purpose o* this stud/ was to e.aluate the *actors a**ecting nonparticipation o* the rural poor in (8Is in
9angladesh. 6o this aim& the stud/ in.estigated the measurement and predicti.e structure o* decomposed
multiple components o* attitudes (*ear and pre*erence)& su5:ecti.e norms re*erence (religious leaders& spouse and
*riends) and percei.ed 5eha.ioral control (P9;) (resources& 1nowledge and illness) in the domain o*
micro*inance and its nonparticipation. 6he stud/ postulated eight *actors *rom the micro*inance literature which
are modeled together in e<amining nonparticipation o* the rural poor in (8Is in 9angladesh. +ata were collected
5ased on strati*ied random sampling procedure through *ace to *ace inter.iew *rom the respondents o* 2$#
nonparticipating rural poor *rom si< ma:or areas o* 9angladesh. 6he Structural ,=uation (odeling (S,() along
with )("S was emplo/ed in anal/>ing data. )mong the eight .aria5les onl/ *our .aria5les such as *ear o*
getting into ris1 o* loan& indi.idual pre*erence o* ta1ing loan& insu**icient resources and ill-health or .ulnera5ilit/
to crises were appeared statisticall/ signi*icant *or in*luencing the poor .illagers7 intention to participation in
(8Is in rural arena. 9esides& intention and all the three constructs o* P9; were *ound statisticall/ signi*icant to
directl/ in*luence the participation 5eha.ior o* the rural poor in 9angladesh.
Keywords: (icro*inance& (8Is& 9arriers o* participation& Rural poor& 9angladesh

Introduction
)*ter the *ailure o* se.eral programs (such as integrated rural de.elopment program and tric1le-down
de.elopment program) *or economic de.elopment in de.eloping countries& microcredit scheme pioneered 5/
Pro*essor (uhammad ?unus was incepted in 9angladesh and su5se=uentl/ considered as a panacea 5/ the
national and international communities *or alle.iating rural po.ert/ through raising income and enhancing
economic growth (?unus& 2#''). 8ollowing this moti.e& microcredit scheme was *ormall/ institutionali>ed as
@rameen 9an1 in 9angladesh in '2$A. Since then a plethora o* articles were sprin1led in research :ournals and
5oo1s in national and international arena designed on this po.ert/-*ocused de.elopment program in order to
in.estigate the role o* microcredit in alle.iating po.ert/. Se.eral assessments o* indi.idual microcredit programs
*ind them highl/ success*ul (i.e. Bmicro-successC) in contrast to a .er/ modest impact o* these inter.entions at an
aggregate le.el (i.e. Bmacro-*ailureC) (Ra>>a=ue& 2#'#). 6hough the related empirical *indings are mi<ed (Islam&
2##)& the weight o* e.idence *a.ors a positi.e association 5etween po.ert/ reduction and micro*inance
participation (Dhanda1er 2##AE Fahir& (ahmud and Sen& 2##'E Hossain '22$E Pitt and Dhanda1er '22$E 9I+S
'22#). In this account& the =uestion ma/ arise3 i* micro*inance programs are so success*ul& wh/ is the rate o*
po.ert/ reduction so lowG
6here ha.e 5een numerous attempts where micro*inance 5orrowers are *ound to ha.e lower po.ert/
incidence. 6his *inding ma/ hinge on potential 5ias and *laws& 5ecause where micro*inance participants are
*ound to select the programs 5/ themsel.es& there could ha.e 5een se.eral other *actors that in*luence
nonparticipation decisions o* the rural poor. Since these *actors are uno5ser.a5le& the impro.ement in economic
well-5eing o* the participant-5orrowers ma/ wrongl/ 5e attri5uted to program participation (Ra>>a=ue& 2#'#).
6hus& 5oth micro*inance and program participation are a serious issue and *ailure to address the pro5lem which
could /ield to misleading e.idence (Pitt and Dhand1er& '22$). Hence& micro*inance participation 5eha.ior o* the
rural poor is trul/ an important issue that re=uires identi*/ing the *actors that a**ect the nonparticipation o* the
rural poor in (8Is.

Theoretical Fraewor!
6he theor/ o* planned 5eha.ior (6P9E ):>en& '22') is a popular theoretical model which has 5een *re=uentl/
applied to understand di**erent patterns o* 5eha.ior including participation in di**erent programs. )ccording to
6P9& the pro<imate antecedent o* .olitional 5eha.ior is an indi.idual7s intention to engage in that 5eha.ior
():>en& '22'). )ttitude and su5:ecti.e norms in*luence actual 5eha.ior through the mediating role o* intention.
Hhile attitudes emphasi>e the o.erall personal su5:ecti.e e.aluations o* per*orming the 5eha.ior 5/ an
indi.idual& su5:ecti.e norms signi*/ the social pressures on an indi.idual to per*orm or not to per*orm a speci*ic
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the indi.iduals to per*orm or not per*orm a particular 5eha.ior. 6his t/pe o* models has not predicted the
5eha.ior in =uestion well (@eorge& 2##4E Hagger& ;hat>isarantis and 9iddle& 2##2). ;inse=uentl/& man/
researchers consider su5:ecti.e norm as not an important construct& 5ecause it *ails to measure su5:ecti.e norm
ade=uatel/ (+onald and ;ooper& 2##'). Some earlier studies include a descripti.e norm which descri5es one7s
social networ1 induces some one to per*orm a particular 5eha.ior in =uestion and this t/pe o* studies has *ound
to impro.e the prediction per*ormance ("1un& Darlo/ and Iut>& 2##2). Recent studies suggest tht descripti.e and
in:uncti.e norms ma/ 5e considered as components o* a *ormati.e (i.e. aggregate) su5:ecti.e norm measure
(Rhodes and ;ourne/a& 2##A). 6hus& present stud/ incorporated the aggregate components o* 5oth in:uncti.e
(e.g. religious leaders7 instructions and spousal disli1e as *emale head o* household) and descripti.e (e.g.
*riends7 ad.ice) in the su5:ecti.e norm measures.

Percei"ed Beha"ioral Control
6he 6heor/ o* reasoned action (6R)) ():>en and 8ish5ein& '2$#)& which was e<tended in the *orm o* 6P9 5/
):>en ('22') incorporating an additional construct o* P9; to 6R) in addition to its two original constructs o*
attitude and su5:ecti.e norms to in*luence intention towards the targeted 5eha.ior due to 6R)7s ina5ilit/ to deal
with 5eha.ior o.er which indi.idual7s ha.e incomplete .olitional control (@eorge& 2##4). 6his addition o* P9;
construct to 6P9 appeared to 5e the most contro.ersial issue in the 6P9 literature (+awson& @/urcsi1& ;ulos-
Reed& and 9rawle/& 2##'). ,arl/ wor1 with 6P9 *ound potential pro5lems with P9; items which e<hi5it low
le.el o* internal consistenc/ ():>en& '22'E ;onner and )rmitage& '22$). Recent studies identi*ied two distinct
item-clusters using *actor anal/ses which were la5eled as sel*-e**icac/ (e.g. ease or di**icult/& con*idence) and
controlla5ilit/ (e.g. personal control o.er 5eha.ior) (6ra*imow& Sheeran& ;onner and 8inla/& 2##2).
Howe.er& the results o* the more recent studies regarding these two constructs o* P9; were not .er/
satis*actor/& 5ecause the power o* these two item clusters as distinct measures in predicting 5eha.ior was *ound
to 5e low. Rhodes and ;ourne/a (2##4) reported that in compare to sel*-e**icac/ items which appeared to 5e
comple<& the controlla5ilit/ items were o5ser.ed to ha.e 5etter per*ormance in terms o* correlations 5etween
intention and P9; constructs. In this account& Rhodes and ;ourne/a (2##4) argued against the use o* sel*-
e**icac/-items in 6P9 and recommended that ):>en7s intended P9; su5component o* percei.ed s1ills or a5ilit/&
resources and opportunit/ help *orm a 5etter component model o* P9; (Rhodes et al.& 2##!). In the present
stud/& s1ill as 1nowledge& resource as inade=uac/ o* resources and time& and opportunit/ as illness or
.ulnera5ilit/ to crises are regarded as the integrated components o* P9;. )s there is no pre.ious research which
has addressed this speci*ic topic within the P9; domain& the present stud/ will attempt to shed light on this o*
micro*inance participation o* the rural poor in 9angladesh.
6he prime o5:ecti.e o* this stud/ was to e<amine multiple components o* attitude (a**ecti.e3 *ear and
instrumental3 indi.idual pre*erence)& su5:ecti.e norm (in:uncti.e3 religious and spousal restrictions and
descripti.e3 *riend7s or peer7s ad.ice) and an alternati.e measure o* P9; (s1ills3 1nowledge& opportunit/3 illness
or .ulnera5ilit/ to crises and resourcesE inade=uac/ o* resources and time) *or the prediction o* intention and
micro*inance participation 5eha.ior 5/ the rural poor. )ccording to 6P9 model& it is postulated that intention
would mediate the 6P9 components o* attitude su5:ecti.e norms and P9; to predict the participating 5eha.ior
o* the rural poor in (8Is in 9angladesh.

Method
Participants and Procedure
6he sample o* this stud/ is 2$# which were drawn through snow5alling methods using closed-end =uestionnaire
*rom the nonparticipating rural .illagers in si< di**erent districts o* 9angladesh. 6he districts are (oula.i5a>ar&
Sat1hira& Shariatpur& Dishoregan:& Nilphamar/ and 9ogra (see 8igure 2). Nonparticipating rural poor (also
re*erred to as non-mem5ers o* the (8Is) are those indi.iduals who choose not to 5e in.ol.ed in 5orrowing
microcredit *rom their local e<isting (8Is. 6he districts are selected 5ased on the comparati.el/ longer duration
o* the operations o* the (8Is and the higher concentration o* po.ert/ incidence in 9angladesh declared 5/ the
concerned go.ernment departments (@o9& 2#'#). 6he sample statistic is pro.ided in the 6a5le I.


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Perceived behavioral control was measured 5/ three components such as perceived resources re*erred as
insu**icient resourceE perceived opportunity re*erred as ill-health or .ulnera5ilit/ to crisesE and perceived skills
re*erred as lac1 o* 1nowledge. 8or insu**icient resources& *our items were usedE *or lac1 o* 5usiness 1nowledge&
*our items were usedE and *or ill-health two items were used as recommended 5/ ):>en ('22'& 2##2). 8our items
o* insu**icient resource are3 (') JI 5elie.e that I ha.e a5ilit/ to pa/ registration *ee *or ta1ing loans *rom (8IsE7
(2) JI 5elie.e that I ha.e time to attend the wee1l/ meetingsE7 (A) I 1now that I ha.e cash mone/ *or sa.ingsE and
(4) JI 5elie.e that I ha.e energ/ and moti.ation *or micro*inance acti.ities.7 8our items are there *or lac1 o*
5usiness 1nowledge3 (') JI 5elie.e that I ha.e su**icient 5usiness 1nowledge to in.est loan mone/ in success*ul
enterprisesE7 (2) JI 5elie.e that I ha.e su**icient *inancial 1nowledge to mo5ili>e loan mone/E7 (A) JI 5elie.e that
I ha.e su**icient mar1eting 1nowledge to sell the productsE7 and (4) I 5elie.e that I ha.e other s1ills o* doing
5usiness.7 Ill-health or .ulnera5ilit/ to crises 5elongs to the items that are3 (') I *eel that m/ ph/sical health
condition is sound to utili>e loansE7 and (2) I *eel that m/ mental health is sound to operate loans.7

Table I #aple #tatistics
$alid Percent
%ender
(ale 'A.$
8emale $!.2
Age
'5-25 ''.2
2!-4# 5!.4
4'-55 2A.'
5!-!# and a5o.e 2.A
Marital #tatus
Single 2.A
(arried $2.A
+i.orced '.
&ducation
Primar/ !4
Secondar/ 2!.
Higher Secondar/ 5.5
9achelor A.$
'early (ousehold Incoe (in 6a1a)
#-2#### ''
2###'-4#### ''.!
4###'-#### 2A.!
###'-'##### 2.!
(ore than '##### 2!.2
Total )and including (oe *in +ecimal+
# 25
'-AA A!.2
A4-!! 2#
!-'## 2.A
(ore than '## $.$
,ther Assets (in 6a1a)
#-2#### !#.2
2###'-4#### 4.5
4###'-#### .!
###'-'##### !.
(ore than '##### 2'


Intention towards microfinance participation was measured 5/ three items such as3 (') JI am eager to participate
in (8IsE7 (2) I intend to participate in (8Is in the *utureE and (A) I intend to participate in Islamic (8Is.7
Participation behavior in micro*inance programs was measured 5/ three items as well those are3 JI wish to
change m/ decisions to participate in (8IsE7 (2) I can participate acti.el/ in (8IsE7 and (A) JI ma/ participate in
Islamic (8Is.7 Nota5l/ all items o* the 6P9 constructs were utili>ed with 5-point scales that ranged *rom '
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). "nl/ *our =uestions were s1etched with dichotomous st/le o* yes/no
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*or identi*/ing the acti.e participants and nonparticipants in micro*inance programs.

-esults
6he stud/ used the structural e=uation modeling (S,() to in.estigate the research =uestions. )s the structural
e=uation modeling pro.ides 5oth an assessment o* statistical signi*icance tests *or the si>e o* each theoretical
relation in the model and o.erall model *it. (odels were estimated with ma<imum li1elihood procedures and
assessed using )("S ()shra*& 2#'A). 6he stud/ also used actor anal/ses& correlation ratios and ;ron5ach7s
alpha *or chec1ing relia5ilit/ *or the internal consistenc/. 6he items reported in the instrument section were
reduced in con*irmator/ *actor anal/sis which appeared to impro.e the ;ron5ach7s alpha le.el su5stantiall/.
6here were se.en items in demographic =uestions included in the =uestionnaire. 6he descripti.e statistics o* the
sample were pro.ided in 6a5le II.

Table II .escripti"e #tatistics for Constructs
Construct n Min Ma/ Mean #.
Participation 2$# '.## 5.## A.##$A '.###A!
Intention 2$# '.## 5.## A.'22! '.#42'4
8ear 2$# '.## 5.## A.#$5 .2'$2
Pre*erence 2$# '.## 5.## 2.55# .!2!#
Religion 2$# '.25 5.## A.252 .22A24
8emale Head 2$# '.AA 5.## 4.'$2A .25#A2
8riend 2$# #.5 A.5 2.A52 .5'#2#
Resource 2$# '.## 5.## A.252 .2$'2
Dnowledge 2$# '.## 5.## A.42A '.2A55!
Ill-health 2$# '.## 5.## 4.##' .2254$
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

6he results o* correlation anal/ses were reported along with ;ron5ach7s alpha .alues in the 6a5le III. 6he
;ron5ach7s alpha .alues are enlisted in the ta5le along the diagonal in italic. )ll ha.e 5een commonl/ used in
the stud/ o* participator/ 5eha.ior in general (Ii& 2##2E Phillips& 2##2). 6he correlation coe**icients are
estimated 5ased on Spearman7s correlation in 5inar/ *ashion.

Table III: Correlations for TPB odel and -eliabilities *on +iagonal in italic)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1:

Participation(')

.72

Intention (2) .!KK .77
8ear (A) -.'KK .22KK .71
Pre*erence (4) -.A4KK -.A4KK .'# .62
Religion (5) -.#2 -.'!KK .5$KK .#2 .!
8emale (!) -.# .#$ .'2KK -.#$ .2 .72
8riend () -.#2 -.#2 -.#4 .# -.#4 -.#4 .7
Resource ($) .AAKK .A5KK -.25KK -.2#KK -.'4K -.'4K -.#' .61
Dnowledge (2) .2!KK .25KK .'' -.'5KK .'KK -.'KK .## .A2KK ."2
Ill-Health ('#) .2KK .2AKK -.'5K -.25KK -.# -.# -.#2 .4$KK .A$KK .#
Note: K indicates signi*icance at p$.%! and KK indicate signi*icance at p$.%1

Ne<t& the research model was run 5/ )("S to ha.e the path measures. 6he results o* the path measurements
ha.e 5een shown in 8igure A. 6he statistical signi*icance o* the paths in the model was also tested using t&.alues&
with a sample si>e o* '& *or 2$# samples o* the rural nonparticipants in (8Is in 9angladesh. ,stimation results o*
e.aluated model were pro.ided in the 6a5le I% in which the .aria5les in*luenced the intention .aria5le.
)s in original 6P9 *ramewor1& ):>en ('22') *ormulated the relationship 5etween P9; and actual 5eha.ior in
=uestion in two wa/s. "ne is to ha.e an in*luence on the targeted 5eha.ior through the mediation o* intention o*
indi.iduals and the other is to e<ert the in*luence on that o* the 5eha.ior directl/. 6he e.aluated result o* the
estimation o* this relationship is pro.ided in the 6a5le % in which betas& t-statistics and signi*icance le.els *or
the independent .aria5les are pro.ided. 9eneath the ta5le& the .alues o* R
2
and 8-statistics are also pro.ided
along with their degrees o* *reedom and statistical signi*icance le.els.
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Figure 3: A Multicoponent TPB Model predicting Participation in MFIs


Table I$ &stiations of &"aluated Model influencing Intention
$ariables Betas t;statistic #ignificance

8ear o* getting into ris1 -.''! -'.2! .#$!K
Indi.idual Pre*erence -.24 -4.2A2 .###KKK
Religious Restrictions -.#$2 -'&2'5 .225
Spousal disli1e as *emale head -.#A' -.544 .5$
8riends7 ad.ice -.##5 -.#2' .22
Insu**icienc/ o* resources .2'# A.A22 .##'KK
Dnowledge o* 9usiness .'$# 2.222 .##4KK
Ill-health -.#A2 -.42$ .!'2
R
2
L 25M& 8 L ''.222KKK (df $& 2') KKKp N.##'& KKp N .#'& Kp N .'#

Table $ &stiations of PBC in &"aluated Model influencing Participation
$ariables Betas t;statistic #ignificance

Insu**icienc/ o* resources .2A A.!$ .###KKK
Dnowledge o* 9usiness .'45 2.A$ .###KKK
Ill-health .'#! '.#!4 .'##K
R
2
L '5M& 8 L '5.!KKK (df A& 2!) KKKp N.##'& KKp N .#'& Kp N .'#

.iscussion
In this stud/& we in.estigated multiple components o* attitude (a**ecti.e3 *ear and instrumental3 pre*erence)&
su5:ecti.e norm (in:uncti.e3 religion and spouse and descripti.e3 *riend)& and an alternati.e measure o* P9;
(s1ills0a5ilit/3 1nowledge opportunit/3 ill-health& and resources3 resource) *or the prediction o* intention and
participation 5eha.ior in micro*inance programs in 9angladesh. In this stud/& the main *ocus is to identi*/ the
.aria5les that hinder the participation o* the rural poor in (8Is.
6he results o* the stud/ re.ealed that a**ecti.e (i.e. *ear) and instrumental (pre*erence) attitude are
distinct constructs 5oth in their measurement domain and in their predicti.e in*luence on micro*inance
participation 5eha.ior o* the rural poor in 9angladesh. 6here*ore& the aggregation o* these components into
either an a**ecti.e or instrumental scale has 5een worth/ strateg/ and recommended *or *urther studies. Similar
*indings are also a.aila5le in other studies such as Rhodes& ;ourne/a and Oones (2##A)& Rhodes and ;ourne/a
(2##Aa) and ;rites et al.& ('224). 6his *inding supports most pre.ious research which showed 5etter per*ormance
o* the component model o* 6P9 in the e**ects o* a**ecti.e and instrumental attitude on actual 5eha.ior in
=uestion (,.es& Hoppe& and (cIaren& 2##AE Iowe& ,.es and ;arrol& 2##2E Rhodes et al.& 2##4).
In terms o* predicti.e .alidit/ within a composite 6P9 structure& 5oth *ear as a**ecti.e and indi.idual
pre*erence as instrumental attitude had statisticall/ signi*icant in*luence on intention and micro*inance
participation 5eha.ior through the mediation o* intention .aria5le. 6hat means these two .aria5les are *ound as
.55
part
.19
intent
fear
pref
relig
female
friend
res
know
ill
.22
-.01
-.03
-.09
2
.72
.04
1
.19 .04
-.03 .08
-.29
-.12
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signi*icant 5arriers *or participation o* the rural poor in (8Is in 9angladesh. 8ear o* ris1 into getting loans *rom
micro*inance programs is a deri.ati.e o* se.eral incidence happened in the past in di**erent locations o* the rural
areas o* 9angladesh. Similarl/& indi.idual pre*erence is also *ound as a 5arrier o* participation in (8Is. 6his
implies that the rural poor pre*er to choose the (8Is to ha.e the loans which would ser.e their interest 5est. In
man/ locations& due to una.aila5ilit/ o* competiti.e (8Is& the rural poor appear to 5e una5le to choose the right
(8I. Hence& this result identi*ied it as a potential 5arrier to the rural poor.
In.estigation into the measurement structure and *unction o* su5:ecti.e norm *ound that in:uncti.e
norm and descripti.e norm are distinct constructs in their measurement domains& 5ut not in their predicti.e
in*luence upon intention and micro*inance participation 5eha.ior o* the rural poor in 9angladesh. In earlier
studies& aggregation o* these components into a single scale (i.e. a single-order one-dimensional measurement
structure) does not represent the measurement structure as well as a (ulticomponent measurement model
(Rhodes and ;ourne/a& 2##!). In this 6P9 structure& modeling separate e**ect o* in:uncti.e norm and descripti.e
norm on micro*inance participation did not *it well. 6his *inding suggests that in:uncti.e and descripti.e norm
act as a *ormati.e scale on participation 5eha.ior o* the rural poor in micro*inance programs (Rhodes and
;ourne/a& 2##Aa). In this respect& it is imperati.e to note that there is no particular emphasi>e on the part o*
researchers to aggregate in:uncti.e and descripti.e norms into a composite one. 6here*ore& these *indings do not
outlaw an/ earlier stud/ that has su5sumed in:uncti.e and descripti.e norms as separate constructs in regression
models.
?et& su5:ecti.e norm was *ound not to predict participation 5eha.ior in (8Is when considering
(ulticomponent 6P9 *ramewor1. 6he stud/ identi*ied no signi*icant indirect in*luence o* su5:ecti.e norm on
micro*inance participation through intention *or in:uncti.e and descripti.e norm. 6his outcome supports the
discussion o* Hagger et al.& (2##2) where su5:ecti.e norm and appeared to ha.e relati.el/ little direct in*luence
on the prediction o* the particular 5eha.ior a*ter attitude and P9; holding controlled. In this connection& it is
ad.isa5le to researchers to consider alternati.e social constructs or indirect in*luence o* su5:ecti.e norm in the
6P9 structure. Ne.ertheless& there is an alternati.e proposal that su5:ecti.e norm ma/ /ield 5etter output& i* it is
conceptuali>ed as an antecedent o* 5eha.ioral 5elie*s or attitude (Sutton& 2##2). Hence& *urther researches are
suggested in this regard.
6he *indings o* this stud/ show that measures o* percei.ed resources& s1ills3 1nowledge and
opportunit/3 ill-health are distinct constructs 5oth in measurement domains and in their predicti.e in*luence on
participation 5eha.ior o* the rural poor in (8Is. 6hough opportunit/3 ill-health or .ulnera5ilit/ to crises is *ound
not to in*luence intention signi*icantl/& the aggregate P9; measures *or at least two .aria5le sets appeared to
show a signi*icant impact on intention towards micro*inance participation.
9esides& the stud/ measures the direct e**ect o* the aggregate constructs o* P9; on participation
5eha.ior o* the rural poor in (8Is. 6he results suggest that all three aggregate measures ha.e statisticall/
signi*icant in*luence on micro*inance participation.
6here*ore& it ma/ 5e ad.isa5le that (ulticomponent 6P9 model *or at least two antecedents o* attitude
and P9; is suita5le *or predicting the rural people7s 5eha.ior in the micro*inance participation domain.
In terms o* predicti.e .alidit/ within a composite 6P9 model& percei.ed resources and percei.ed
a5ilit/& 5ut not opportunit/& had signi*icant in*luence on intention towards participation in (8Is. In addition&
percei.ed resources and percei.ed a5ilit/ had a total (direct P indirect in*luence through intention) in*luence on
participation in (8Is. 6his result is important *or at least two reasons. 8irstl/& the *indings .alidate the new
integrated P9; measure as a suita5le measure o* P9;E and secondl/& these outcomes support ):>en7s original
P9; construct which is denoted 5/ controlla5ilit/ items. Hence& these *indings show that the P9; measure o*
s1ills& opportunit/ and resource support the controlla5ilit/ items as measures o* P9;.
".erall& the *indings o* the stud/ re.eal that intention is *ound to signi*icantl/ in*luence the
participation 5eha.ior o* the rural poor in (8Is and among the eight percei.ed .aria5les& *our .aria5les such as
*ear o* getting into ris1 o* loans& indi.idual pre*erence& inade=uate resources and lac1 o* 1nowledge a5out
microenterprises appear to the potential 5arriers to the rural poor in participating in (8Is in 9angladesh. 6hese
*indings would shade light on the perspecti.es o* polic/ planning in order to increase the participation o* the
rural poor in (8Is.
)lthough limitations are commonl/ inherent in an/ studies& the *indings o* research can put an
important contri5ution to all t/pes o* research. Nonetheless& this stud/ is also warranted to mention some o* the
shortcomings along with recommendations *or *urther research. 8irst& the h/potheses lin1ing causal e**ects
5etween measured indicators were drawn in the structural e=uation models in the present stud/ that represented
one t/pe o* research *ramewor1. Hhile the *ramewor1 seems to ha.e a moderate *it& di**erent other models could
ha.e 5een emplo/ed to anal/>e the data. Second& the snow5alling method o* sampling was *ollowed to collect
the data rather than random sampling& which ma/ limits the predicti.e a5ilit/ o* the model to some e<tent.
Howe.er& the practice o* new P9; measures indicates that some other alternati.e components o* P9; can 5e
emplo/ed to anal/>e the data in order to predict the micro*inance participation 5eha.ior. 6hird& the present stud/
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5!! ISSN ("nline)2225-#4$4 ("nline)
%ol.4& No.'!& 2#'4

'25
is 5ased on cross-section data rather than longitudinal data which ma/ deem to 5etter method *or predicting the
participation 5eha.ior o* the rural poor in (8Is.
Iastl/& the practice o* such a (ulticomponent o* 6P9 constructs ought to 5e deemed one step ad.ance
in social ps/chological research o* micro*inance participation. )nd the phrasing o* the items could ha.e 5een
impro.ed 5/ which 5etter measurement ma/ 5e result 5etter output. 8urther studies using this (ulticomponent
model o* 6P9 ma/ render impro.ed per*ormance in terms o* measurement as well as predicti.e .alidit/ o* the
measuring constructs.
".erall& the inherent shortcomings descri5ed a5o.e do not restrict either the .alidation or
generali>ation o* the research results. Howe.er& addressing a5o.e shortcomings& *uture research could 5e
impro.ed in terms o* its predicti.e power. (ore research should 5e done in this area& 5ecause the 6P9 has not
/et 5een pre.iousl/ utili>ed in micro*inance participation models. Hence& *urther in.estigations that address the
limitations should lead to increased amounts o* .ariance accounted *or in the models and e<pand our
understandings o* the potential 5arriers that o5struct the rural poor participation in the (8Is.

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