The Effect of Membership Homogeneity on Group Size, Funds Mobilization, and the Engenderment of Reciprocal Obligations Among Informal Financial Groups in Rural Zaire

The hypothesis that informal financial groups (IFGs) in Zaire are relatively homogeneous in terms of gender, occupation, and geographical proximity. A simultaneous equations model of IFGs, corrected for heteroscedasticity, was estimated. Membership homogeneity is significant in explaining variations in the characteristics of the organizational form of IFGs-size of membership, amount of funds mobilized, and engenderment of reciprocal obligations