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Internationalization of the microfinance industry

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Although personal and inter-firm networks are critical for the survival and growth of entrepreneurial ventures in transition economies, their role in new-venture internationalization has been understudied. Exploring the internationalization of entrepreneurial ventures (n = 623) in Bulgaria, we find that domestic personal networks have a positive effect on internationalization. Firm age negatively moderates the effect of inter-firm networks: the earlier the new venture engages in inter-firm collaboration, the higher the degree of its internationalization. Internationalization is positively associated with new venture size and varies by industry. Implications for managerial practice and public policy are discussed.
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This study examines the effect of foreign (Anglo-American) board membership on corporate performance measured in terms of firm value (Tobin’s Q). Using a sample of firms with headquarters in Norway or Sweden the study indicates a significantly higher value for firms that have outsider Anglo-American board member(s), after a variety of firm-specific and corporate governance related factors have been controlled for. We argue that this superior performance reflects the fact that these companies have successfully broken away from a partly segmented domestic capital market by “importing” an Anglo-American corporate governance system. Such an “import” signals a willingness on the part of the firm to expose itself to improved corporate governance and enhances its reputation in the financial market.
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This paper updates some of the author's thinking on the eclectic paradigm of international production, and relates it to a number of mainstream, but context-specific economic and business theories. It suggests that by dynamizing the paradigm, and widening it to embrace asset-augmenting foreign direct investment and MNE, activity it may still claim to be the dominant paradigm explaining the extent and pattern of the foreign value added activities of firms in a globalizing, knowledge intensive and alliance based market economy.
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We study whether and how the success of microfinance institutions (“MFI"s) depends on the country-level context, in particular macroeconomic and macro-institutional features. Understanding these linkages can make MFI evaluation more accurate and, further, can help to locate microfinance in the broader picture of economic development. We collect data on 373 MFIs and merge it with country-level economic and institutional data. Evidence arises for complementarity between MFI performance and the broader economy. For example, MFIs are more likely to cover costs when growth is stronger; and MFIs in financially deeper economies have lower default and operating costs, and charge lower interest rates. There is also evidence suggestive of substitutability or rivalry. For example, more manufacturing and higher workforce participation are associated with slower growth in MFI outreach. Overall, the country context appears to be an important determinant of MFI performance; MFI performance should be handicapped for the environment in which it was achieved.
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Equity markets are increasingly seen as important sources of investment funds in many emerging economies. Furthermore, many countries see the development of such markets as a means to facilitate both foreign equity portfolio investment and foreign direct investment (FDI). This may occur through acquisition of shareholdings in domestic companies, which supplements the low levels of funding from domestic savings. But many emerging stock markets exhibit substantial risk premia that increases the cost of equity for listed domestic firms and deters potential foreign investors. This paper estimates the cost of equity in four major African markets: South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco. These represent the largest and most developed equity markets in Africa and also act as regional hub markets. London is also included as a link between the emerging and developed financial markets. The Fama and French [Fama, E., & French, K. (1993). Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds. Journal of Financial Economics, 33, 3–56] three-factor model capital asset pricing model is augmented to take account of company size and illiquidity factors that feature in African financial markets. The results show that the premia associated with size are more prevalent than with liquidity although both are highly significant in both valuation and cost of equity estimates. The evidence suggests that the lowest cost of equity is achieved in the two major international markets of London and Johannesburg, while the less-advanced North African markets of Morocco and Egypt have higher costs of equity. The developing Kenyan market has the highest cost of equity, although the costs associated with the main market are less than one-third of that in the Alternative Investment Market.
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Tourism has been, and still is, a very profitable industry in Spain. But the Spanish model of tourism development, following a pattern set in the 1950s, is now in crisis. The crisis is apparent in the widespread overdevelopment of tourist resorts and residential facilities in coastal areas, generating high environmental, social and economic costs. In this paper, we describe the Spanish model of tourism, the results it has achieved, the reasons for its longevity and the obstacles facing any attempt to change it. Given the failure of individual, collective and political action to solve the problems ofoverdevelopment, we ask whether corporate social responsibility and its theoretical foundations and instruments offer a solution.
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This paper uses stochastic frontier analysis to examine whether there is a trade-off between outreach to the poor and efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs). We find convincing evidence that outreach is negatively related to efficiency of MFIs. More specifically, we find that MFIs that have a lower average loan balance (a measure of the depth of outreach) are also less efficient. Moreover, we find evidence showing that MFIs that have more women borrowers as clients (again a measure of the depth of outreach) are less efficient. These results remain robustly significant after having added a number of control variables.
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China is reforming its banking system, partially privatizing and taking on minority foreign ownership of three of its dominant "Big Four" state-owned banks. This paper helps predict the effects by analyzing the efficiency of Chinese banks over 1994-2003. Findings suggest that Big Four banks are by far the least efficient; foreign banks are most efficient; and minority foreign ownership is associated with significantly improved efficiency. We present corroborating robustness checks and offer several credible mechanisms through which minority foreign owners may increase Chinese bank efficiency. These findings suggest that minority foreign ownership of the Big Four will likely improve performance significantly.
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Leading advocates for microfinance have put forward an enticing “win-win” proposition: microfinance institutions that follow the principles of good banking will also be those that alleviate the most poverty. A key tenet is that poor households demand access to credit, not cheap credit. This vision has been translated into “best practices ” that have been circulated widely. The argument falls apart, however, on closer inspection. It rests on misinterpretations of evidence and faulty extrapolations of logic. While petty traders and a few others with high-margin, quick turnaround businesses can pay high real interest rates, most poor households cannot. Contrary to common assertions, moderately-subsidized credit can be well-targeted, delivered efficiently, and can be compatible with savings mobilization. Recognizing the limits to the “win-win ” proposition opens up consideration of the costs and benefits to subsidization. It also provides a basis for constructive dialogue between microfinance advocates that privilege financial development and those that privilege social impacts.
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We propose a cross-sectional time-series model to assess the impact of market liberalizations in emerging equity markets on the cost of capital, volatility, beta, and correlation with world market returns. Liberalizations are defined by regulatory changes, the introduction of depositary receipts and country funds, and structural breaks in equity capital f lows to the emerging markets. We control for other economic events that might confound the impact of foreign speculators on local equity markets. Across a range of specifications, the cost of capital always decreases after a capital market liberalization with the effect varying between 5 and 75 basis points. THROUGHOUT HISTORY AND IN MANY MARKET ECONOMIES, the speculator has been characterized as both a villain and a savior. Indeed, the reputation of the speculator generally depends on the country where he does business. In wellfunctioning advanced capital markets, such as the United States, the speculator is viewed as an integral par...
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This paper analyzes the survival of organizations in which decision agents do not bear a major share of the wealth effects of their decisions. This is what the literature on large corporations calls separation of "ownership" and "control." Such separation of decision and risk bearing functions is also common to organizations like large professional partnerships, financial mutuals and nonprofits. We contend that separation of decision and risk bearing functions survives in these organizations in part because of the benefits of specialization of management and risk bearing but also because of an effective common approach to controlling the implied agency problems. In particular, the contract structures of all these organizations separate the ratification and monitoring of decisions from the initiation and implementation of the decisions. Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. XXVI, June 1983. Separation of Ownership and Control * Eugene F. Fama and Michael C. Jensen Journal of...
What is a network? The diversity of networks in microfinance today', Focus Note 26
CGAP (2006), 'What is a network? The diversity of networks in microfinance today', Focus Note 26. Accessed 17.07.18 at https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/CGAP-Focus-Note
Stemming the tide of mission drift: Microfinance transformations and the double bottom line
  • C Frank
  • E Lynch
  • L Schneider-Moretto
Frank, C., E. Lynch and L. Schneider-Moretto (2008), 'Stemming the tide of mission drift: Microfinance transformations and the double bottom line', Women's World Banking Focus Note, 1-24.