Federico Diaz Kalan

En inglés. Los gobiernos y las instituciones de desarrollo invierten miles de millones de dólares para ayudar a las pequeñas empresas a acceder a financiamiento, con la esperanza de que esto genere empleos y promueva un crecimiento económico inclusivo. Sin embargo, aún sabemos poco sobre si estos programas realmente llegan a las empresas que más lo necesitan y si logran ayudarlas a crecer.

Governments and development institutions spend billions to help small businesses access financing, hoping this will create jobs and support inclusive economic growth. But we don’t really know if these programs reach the firms that need help most and help them grow. In a recent paper, we evaluate a loan program in Ecuador implemented by the state development bank Corporación Financiera Nacional (CFN) with support from the World Bank.

Like many countries, Brazil is threatened by deforestation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. This column explores evidence of these dangers as reflected in the country’s financial institutions. Banks and their supervisors need far greater awareness of material risks to ecosystem services of the natural world arising from their lending and investment activities. Biodiversity loss is one of the greatest threats to humanity.