Impact Investing for the Average American

Friday, March 21, 2014

On January 14, eBay ended its brief flirtation with impact investing.

The internet giant had acquired a small startup called MicroPlace in 2006, thus becoming a major player in the emerging market of small-scale lending.

With the online auctioneer’s global reach, company executives believed they could close the poverty gap by enabling the average American to lend small amounts ($50 to $100) to enterprises in the developing world at a 1 to 4 percent return.

Source: Harvard Kennedy School Review (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Impact Assessment
Tags
governance, impact investing