Women Entrepreneurship and Microfinance in Turkey

Abstract

Microcredit practices are one of the significant economic instruments used today in struggling against poverty. Microcredit practices, not only implemented in developing countries but also implemented in developed countries, is a very important tool used in gaining economic stabilization, providing social welfare, increasing per capita income and accordingly reducing poverty. Microcredit practices are practices pursuing the goal of gaining poor people (mainly women) to labor force and reducing poverty and help people who need loan and have good ideas and the spirit of entrepreneur in getting a start in a business. By microcredit practices which are different practices from classical bank loans, unsecured loans are given to entrepreneurs who want to start business life and help them make their dreams come true, entrepreneurship is encouraged and accordingly mediate in reducing poverty. In this study, primarily entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurship which is one of the important fields of entrepreneurship are examined, then microcredit concept and effects of microcredit practices on women entrepreneurs are handled. Within this context, after forming a theoretical frame in the study, a field study is performed in Kocaeli and Sakarya cities in which situations of women who have obtained microcredit projects used as an increasing tool of women entrepreneurship and employment and women who have not used microcredit are compared.