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We used a multilevel approach on comparing for-profit and not-for-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs). The database was composed of 202 MFIs (in 52 countries) from the most widely used microfinance dataset (the Microfinance Information eXchange, Inc. Market), with 669 observations from 2010 to 2014. Four financial sustainability outcomes were c...
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We consider a continuous-time linear-quadratic Gaussian control problem with partial observations and costly information acquisition. More precisely, we assume the drift of the state process to be governed by an unobservable Ornstein--Uhlenbeck process. The decision maker can additionally acquire information on the hidden state by conducting costly...
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... Uma dessas formas desse conflito ficou conhecida na literatura de microfinanças como "deriva da missão" ou "abandono da missão". Esse fato ocorre quando as IMFs passam a perseguir objetivos de caráter comercial em detrimento de sua "missão" social de reduzir a pobreza (Leite, Mendes & Sacramento, 2019). Nesse cenário, a busca da sustentabilidade financeira pode resultar no "deriva da missão" (Ben Soltane, 2012), e penalizar os objetivos sociais destas organizações, entre eles o acesso das mulheres ao crédito. ...
O segmento de microfinanças é considerado um mecanismo capaz de proporcionar a inclusão financeira dos mais pobres, geralmente excluídos do sistema financeiro tradicional e, dessa forma, permitir que estes possam empreender e desenvolver atividades autônomas que gerem renda. As microfinanças podem ser consideradas especialmente importantes para o público feminino, uma vez que essa modalidade consegue promover o empoderamento das mulheres. Nesse cenário, faz sentido conhecer quais são as características das Instituições de Microfinanças (IMFs) que privilegiam o acesso das mulheres aos seus serviços. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é identificar as variáveis que influenciam o acesso das mulheres a empréstimos em IMFs. Para esse fim, esta pesquisa analisou uma amostra composta por 59 IMFs de todo o mundo com o emprego do Modelo de Regressão Beta (MRB) para dados em painel. Os resultados indicam que a proporção de mulheres gerentes, o tamanho da instituição e a proporção de crédito solidário estão positivamente associados à proporção de mutuários do gênero feminino, enquanto a proporção de mulheres no conselho, modelo de governança e o tamanho médio dos empréstimos apresentam uma relação oposta. Os resultados obtidos neste trabalho podem ser utilizados para instrumentalizar o controle gerencial das IMFs que possuam o compromisso institucional de atender as mulheres.
... 11/ Núm. 2 2024 pág. 2725 impacto, lo que genera incertidumbre sobre su capacidad para operar de forma autónoma y sostenible sin el apoyo constante de estas fuentes (Leipziper & Zinn, 2021;Leite et al., 2019;Morduch, 1999;Muyeed & Han, 2024). En este sentido, la rentabilidad a corto plazo no siempre se alinea con la viabilidad a largo plazo, lo que limita el alcance y la profundidad del impacto social deseado. ...
A pesar de los esfuerzos por promover la inclusión financiera, las microfinanzas siguen enfrentando retos complejos que no pueden ser resueltos con enfoques simplistas. Este artículo propone que el pensamiento complejo, al abordar las interconexiones entre factores económicos, sociales y culturales, puede ofrecer soluciones más efectivas y sostenibles. En lugar de centrarse únicamente en la provisión de crédito, el pensamiento complejo invita a un enfoque holístico que considere las causas profundas de la exclusión financiera, tales como las barreras sociales y psicológicas que a menudo quedan fuera de los modelos tradicionales. El estudio subraya que, aunque la adopción de este enfoque es desafiante debido a la resistencia al cambio y a la falta de recursos, sus beneficios son notables. Implementar políticas y prácticas que integren estas perspectivas puede transformar la forma en que las instituciones microfinancieras interactúan con los más vulnerables, favoreciendo no solo la inclusión financiera, sino también el desarrollo humano y social. El pensamiento complejo no solo destaca la necesidad de adaptar las soluciones a contextos específicos, sino también de promover un cambio cultural dentro de las organizaciones microfinancieras. Este artículo ofrece un marco analítico que ayuda a diseñar estrategias más adaptativas y resilientes, orientadas a un desarrollo financiero inclusivo, equitativo y sostenible.
... The effectiveness of microfinance hinges on its ability to provide financial services to the impoverished without long-term subsidies. Efficiency in microfinance is typically assessed through operational and financial indicators, such as the operational self-sufficiency (OSS) ratio, measuring an MFI's capacity to cover costs with operating income [4,5,69,70]. Social metrics, like the number of active borrowers and outreach depth to impoverished clients, also play a significant role in performance evaluation [71][72][73]. ...
Microfinance has gained significant attention as a social innovation, offering flexible and low-cost financial services to households who are otherwise excluded from formal financial services. Over the years, numerous research works have expanded the knowledge base of microfinance. Applying bibliometrics, we summarise findings from 1599 articles published between 1987 and 2022. Our performance analysis reveals insights into the research trend, including its geographical distribution, the theories under examination, and the most influential publications. More importantly, the knowledge foundation and thematic analysis categorize microfinance research into three broad themes, viz. impact of microfinance, management of microfinance and performance and efficiency of microfinance. Furthermore, we trace the evolution of various research topics and forecast future trends using periodical average publication years over time. This study, therefore, serves as a valuable reference in microfinance research both for new researchers and seasoned academics, as well as policymakers, providing insights into research trends, seminal works, and future directions.
... As a second point, DF has the potential to achieve a maximum amount of capital by decreasing information irregularity and increasing funds distribution efficiency (Leite et al., 2019). Financial institutions using digital skills, such as big data and cloud computing, can evaluate significant amounts of corporate data cheaply and at low risk by creating or relying on a database encompassing enterprises' production, circulation, and transactional behaviors (Lin & Ma, 2022). ...
Green technologies play a vital role in the environment of digital systems; hence, there is a need to promote digital technologies and eco-friendly practices at organizational and national levels that have grown substantially in response to climate change challenges. This study aims to unlock the impact of digital finance, human capital, and environmental decentralization on green technological innovation. The study uses panel data from 2010 to 2021, following the empirical approach. It analyzes whether environmental decentralization and green human capital strengthen organizational capabilities to innovate green technologies, leading to a sustainable society by integrating the digital financial system from the perspective of Chinese manufacturing firms. The benchmark and baseline regression model showed that digital finance, human capital and environmental decentralization significantly impacted green innovation. Digital finance can support the funding and scaling green initiatives, fostering a more environmentally conscious and economically resilient future. As technology evolves, the link between digital finance and green innovation holds immense potential for shaping a sustainable and inclusive global economy. A knowledgeable and skilled workforce is better positioned to navigate the complexities of sustainable development, contributing to the emergence of eco-friendly technologies and environmentally conscious business practices. Environmental decentralization catalyses diverse and context-specific green innovations, contributing to a more resilient and adaptable global approach to environmental sustainability. Furthermore, to promote technological innovation investment, the government should adopt differentiated policies to encourage sustainable development.
... Supporting studies on microfinance banks have found similar trends in financial performance and loan distribution. For example, a study by Leite, Mendes, and Sacramento, (2019) on microfinance banks in a neighbouring country reported comparable mean values for ROA and ROE. The findings suggest that the financial performance of microfinance banks in the region shares certain similarities. ...
This study examines the impact of Central Bank Regulations on the Financial Sustainability of National Microfinance Banks in Nigeria. The study employed the expost-facto research design. Data was collected from the central bank bulletins and the financial reports of the sample seven national Microfinance banks. The data collected was analysed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The findings derived from the empirical analysis revealed significant relationships between the Minimum Capital Requirement, and the financial sustainability indicators, including returns on assets (ROA) and returns on equity (ROE) and confirmed that the Minimum Capital Requirement imposed by the central bank has a significant impact on the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions. Based on the findings of the study, the following policy recommendations can be made; Policymakers and regulators should continue to enforce and monitor the Minimum Capital Requirement for microfinance banks. Adequate capitalization is essential for the financial sustainability and profitability of microfinance institutions. However, the capital requirement should be flexible enough to accommodate the specific needs and characteristics of microfinance banks, considering their focus on serving the underserved segments of the population. And Microfinance banks should prioritize maintaining an adequate level of capital to ensure their ability to generate returns on assets. This can be achieved through effective capital management strategies, including attracting additional capital from investors, optimizing internal capital generation, and ensuring efficient use of capital in productive activities.
... However, once a certain level of stability is achieved, large firms may think about reversion to the original mission of serving the poor, given that they can now afford to expand their range of services and float policies that will be more beneficial in terms of outreaching the poor (Mersland and Strøm, 2010). Large firms may also lower the interest rates and fees because they no longer need a high rate of returns for boosting their own growth, as they begin to enjoy the economies of scale and their fixed costs are mostly already covered (Leite et al., 2019;Schmidt and Ramana, 2010). Large firms usually show better operational efficiency (Parameshwar et al., 2010;Quayes, 2012), which might lead them to more depth outreach. ...
The study examines the impact of the Microfinance Institutions' (MFIs) size on their client targeting. Using MFI clients' household data, the study considers household income, wealth, human development, caste, settlement type, and purposes of loans as different client targeting dimensions. The analysis is based on a sample survey of over 301 women clients who had received loans exclusively from 12 big and 13 small MFIs.The results indicate that the MFI size has an adverse effect on social performance. As the MFIs grow in size, they tend to target and serve the wealthier and non-agriculturally employed clients residing in urban areas. The women's passive role in borrowing emerges as yet another concern. The instances of poverty penalty among the poor clients as reflected through higher interest rates for small-sized loans are yet another concern. The target towards poverty eradication may turn out to be a far cry under the large-sized MFIs.
... To achieve MFI sustainability, the complementarity between financial sustainability and outreach, the government's positive ideology on MFI performance, social and technological innovation and financial deepening, and the exploration of digital technologies to increase operational efficiency are crucial factors [49,50,51,52,57]. We also observe different purposes between for-profit and notfor-profit microfinance institutions, while for-profit MFIs target relatively wealthier individuals and are therefore able to achieve wider outreach and charge higher interest rates than not-for-profit MFIs, the not-for-profit MFIs might have a smaller outreach and serve the poor more with lower interest rates [54]. Similarly, subsidies and deposit mobilization have been found to be a substitute fund with similar impacts on outreach and sustainability, lowering microcredit interest rates and allowing MFIs to reach poorer borrowers, but they both improve outreach and sustainability [56]. ...
This article aims to present current research trends in microfinance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs), as microfinance plays an increasingly role in entrepreneurship development and poverty alleviation. The study uses a bibliometric analysis, in this work, we performed citation, bibliographic coupling, and keyword evolution analyses. The results show that research in microfinance for SMEs and microfinance institutions continue to grow. The authors found that recent research in microfinance for SMEs and microfinance institutions has evolved around eight thematic clusters, covering (1) access to and constraints on microcredit for SMEs (2) microfinance and economic empowerment, (3) sustainability of MFIs, (4) creditworthiness, microfinance technology infrastructure and financing patterns, (5) Islamic financial inclusion, (6) credit assessment models for microcredit, (7) microfinance and innovative business models, and (8) gender and equity crowdfunding. Research gaps in each of the thematic clusters are identified. Topics related to COVID-19, Islamic social finance, microfinance institutions, credit scoring models, crowdfunding, and entrepreneurial finance are likely to feature in the domain of microfinance and sustainability of MFIs in future.
... Several investigations on how environmental regulations affect geographical and organizational practices have focused on what is known as the 'Porter Hypothesis.' Significant areas of study for small businesses include corporate innovation and the consequences of environmental restrictions (firm costs and production efficiency) Leite et al., 2019). Due to rapid social and economic development, Asia's energy consumption will account for more than half of the world's energy consumption by 2035, up from a third in 2010 (Xingang & Jin, 2022;Yu et al., 2022). ...
Environmentally friendly initiatives and green financing are needed to reduce pollution and transition to a low‐carbon energy system. This research was conducted to assess the efficacy of green bond financing for scaling up environmentally responsible investment in preparation for the low‐carbon energy transition in emerging Asian economies. The generalized method of moment's methodology is used to examine the impact of green finance, CO2 emission, and economic growth on the environmental investment of emerging nations over the period 2000–2021. The result showed that all these factors contribute significantly to environmental investment. In addition, the results showed that the burdens of global warming are achievable to alleviate through green bonds for the optimum transition to low‐carbon energy. Moreover, these economies have enacted measures to assist them in becoming green and encourage green initiatives, which function harmoniously with each other and have decreased carbon emissions, leading to the possible adaptation of green environmental investment sources. Hence, it is recommended that these economies boost their green financing activities, low‐carbon emissions, and economic development so that eco‐innovation and ecological investment can be made properly. Promoting green finance initiatives and economic growth drive national capabilities to invest in eco‐friendly projects. Moreover, the transition of low‐carbon energy to emerging nations bolsters investment in environmental activities
... The profit-based institutions extend links with capital markets to ensure maintaining profitability and high-rate efficiency. The traditional MFIs are profit-based because the drawn-out monetary usefulness is a higher priority than the social effort (Leite et al. 2019;Liñares-Zegarra and Wilson 2018;Schwarz et al. 2015). ...
... We drew the financial data from the World Bank catalog with the Mix-market collaboration and the data were extracted from 25 countries with 127 microfinance institutions and similar data were used in several studies (Aggarwal et al. 2015;Leite et al. 2019;Navajas and Tejerina 2006;Sainz-Fernandez et al. 2018;Wijesiri et al. , 2017. The dual efficiency is a technique to understand the organization's performances and may estimate by diverse variables while we considered financial and social variables that reflect the performance factors of each microfinance institution. ...
Purpose: the objective is to measure the financial and social performance of 127 microfinance institutions (MFIs) and observe the effects with explanatory factors such as “type”, “geography region”, and “secular and faith” variables. Design/methodology/approach: The time-series performance analysis of microfinance institutions is determined in two stages. In the first stage, both the social and financial efficiencies are measured with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. The two explanatory factors along with faith and secular variables show the effect on these determined efficiencies by the second stage of the Tobit regression Random effect Model. Findings: Financial performance is greater than the social performance from the first stage analysis. When considering the explanatory variables, the social performances are not significant with religious factors. When the regression is performed in a group, the financial score is more significant with religious and other explanatory variables. Faith-based and secular-based microfinance institutions are strongly significant if the performances (efficiencies) are highly maintained. Originality/Value: faith and secular variables are identified based on the background/history information of each microfinance institution (MFI).
... The average publication years and number of occurrences value show that these are popular current research trends. The microfinance and microfinance institutions literature focuses extensively on these trends, indicating their importance(Leite et al., 2019;Zamore et al., 2021). ...
Poverty alleviation is a global problem. To alleviate poverty, microfinancing is used through microfinance institutions. There are many publications comprising empirical and literature review articles beside others focusing on this issue. Subjectivity bias is one of the issues that is seen in the literature reviews in an area of interest. This study answers the problem based on the bibliometric analysis of microfinance, micro‐finance institutions, micro‐insurance, micro‐savings, and financial inclusion with other synonyms using the Scopus Database. This article focuses on overall historical trends, publication output, prolific authors and journals, google mapping of the world‐renowned academic institutions, and highlights the shortcoming of the Scopus database by utilizing software for the first time. We use VOSviewer, for co‐authorship analysis and our results underline the leading role of United States contribution to a greater extent, while co‐citation analysis shows emerging hotspots such as financial technology including fintech, crowdfunding, and financial literacy. We concluded limited attention from scholars towards natural‐resource revenues, financial development using fintech, and crowdfunding regarding poverty alleviation. Furthermore, for the interest of the development researchers and practitioners, we have highlighted the conceptual framework for financial development, natural resource abundance, economic growth nexus through fintech, crowdfunding, financial literacy to curb poverty as new avenues for future research agenda.
