the mif blog

Do the belief, attitudes, and personality of business owners or managers matter in determining the probability of business success and the creditworthiness of the enterprise? And if so, could this “psychological capital” be leveraged as a predictive tool not only for credit appraisal decisions, but also to provide broader support to small businesses? Pioneering work done in Jamaica suggests that it could. 

Actors across a watershed often have very different needs, with upstream landowners trying to exploit natural resources, such as forests and grasslands, without necessarily taking into account how their actions might impact downstream water users. 

¿Han pensado que, en algún momento dentro de los próximos cien años, si seguimos nuestra trayectoria actual de consumo de recursos, el hombre tendrá que buscar otra casa diferente a nuestro planeta tierra?

The Bloomberg Business headline reads, “It's Jammin': Jamaica's Tiny Stock Market Conquers World in 2015.” The news article explained that the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) was the best performing stock exchange in 2015, with its index’s more than 80% increase outpacing all the other world indexes (for example, Dow Jones Industrial Average: -1%, and Euro Stoxx 50: -6% in dollar terms).

A transformational movement is challenging the view that businesses exist primarily to maximize shareholder value. A growing number of businesses are keen to play a larger role in society, not simply by acting “responsibly,” but also by becoming a true “force for good.” They are harnessing the power of markets, entrepreneurship, and investment capital to tackle complex social problems in areas such as crime, education, health care, and clean energy.