Who Will Finance the Financiers? A comparative analysis of microfinance initiatives in Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom

This thesis investigates the factors affecting political support microfinance. Through a comparative case study of Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom I provide a new approach to understanding microfinance institutions in developed countries. Using Kingdon s three streams approach, combined with Rochefort and Cobb s contribution on problem definition I identify the conditions under which microfinance ensures and sustains political support. I find that policy windows are important determinants of political support of microfinance. If a policy window is present, microfinance initiatives are more likely to receive political support. In this process I identify four policy windows that have been crucial in establishing political support for microfinance. Moreover, I find that the definitions of the various problems and target groups that microfinance is supposed to address influences political support. Finally I identify five dominant problem definitions and show how they have affected political support for microfinance initiatives in the three cases