Social Performance Of Microfinance Institutions Research Articles

Strategic alliances and social performance of microfinance institutions in Indonesia

AbstractThe objective of this study is to understand how strategic alliances and dynamic capabilities influence the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Indonesia. The research was conducted on a sample of 235 CEOs/top leaders of MFIs spread across all provinces in Indonesia. Data collection used survey questionnaires. Data testing used SPSS version 25, and structural modeling used Amos version 25. The findings show that strategic alliances significantly influence dynamic capabilities and dynamic capabilities significantly influence social performance. Social performance has a significant effect on financial performance. MFIs are important in establishing strategic alliance and strengthening their dynamic capabilities to improve social performance (depth and breadth of reach) and affect financial performance. Social performance includes the depth of the reach to contribute to improving the quality of life of people experiencing poverty around the MFI's operations and the social responsibility of MFIs to the community through scholarships, free medical assistance, basic food assistance, and building/renovating houses of worship and others.

What are the determinants of the financial and social performance of MFIs in Togo? Does gender borrower matter on financial performance?

Using the panel generalized method of moments, we scrutinize the key factors of financial and social performance of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Togo. We report that a higher increase in equity leads to MFIs' financial sustainability while an increase in debt leads to unsustainability. Furthermore, the increase in staff expenditure and operational efficiency decreases financial performance. Interestingly, in the context of Togo, the percentage of male borrowers contributes more strongly to the profitability and sustainability of MFIs than female borrowers. However, in terms of loan repayment, female borrowers contribute more to the sustainability of MFIs than male borrowers

Efficiency and Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Systematic Literature Review

This study was conducted to find out common knowledge in the empirical literature pertaining to the performance and efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs), as well as the areas that require more attention for future research. The systematic literature review (SLR) technique was applied and the article selection and findings were reported according to the PRISMA guidelines. 69 empirical journal articles between 2013 and 2023 were included from Scopus database. (1) Efficiency of MFIs (Financial & Social efficiency) (2) performance of MFIs (Social & Financial Performance), (3) sustainable performance of MFIs, were identified as the three most common knowledge clusters. The review established that efficiency and conventional performance analysis of MFIs differ in methodologies and perspectives. Further, it was found that performance assessment, efficiency measurement, productivity, sustainability, and outreach of MFIs are infrequently investigated areas. Financial efficiency, social efficiency, financial performance, and social performance of MFIs were also identified as averagely investigated, creating avenues for more future studies. Thus, the study emphasized the need for further research diversifying perspectives on overall MFI performance to ensure lasting success.

Entrepreneurial orientation and social performance of microfinance institutions in Indonesia

PurposeThe purpose of this research was to examine the influence of entrepreneurial orientation on social performance and the influence of social performance on financial performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Indonesia. These tests use environmental dynamism as antecedents.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted on a sample of 235 CEOs/top leaders of MFIs spread across all provinces in Indonesia. Data collection used survey questionnaires. Data testing used SPSS version 25, and structural modeling used Amos version 25.FindingsThe findings show that entrepreneurial orientation significantly influences the social performance of MFIs in Indonesia. Entrepreneurial orientation does not influence financial performance but must go through social performance mediation. Social performance has a significant effect on financial performance. The importance of MFIs improves social performance (depth and breadth of reach) to improve financial performance.Practical implicationsMFIs need to increase social contribution and responsibility to improve social performance which will impact financial performance.Originality/valueEntrepreneurial orientation influence on financial performance goes through social performance. Social performance includes the depth of the reach to contribute to improving the quality of life of people experiencing poverty around the MFI's operations and the social responsibility of MFIs to the community through scholarships, free medical assistance, basic food assistance and building/renovating houses of worship and others.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2023-0478

Mission drift or mission fulfillment? Examining microfinance's financial and social performance with growth curve modeling and variance decomposition

PurposeExamining multilevel effects of financial and social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs), the authors aim to investigate microfinance mission drift from the trend effect. The authors also seek to move the literature forward by decomposing the performance variance at different levels and examining whether and how much each level of analysis matters.Design/methodology/approachGrowth curve modeling and variance decomposition analysis were conducted using a dataset consisting of 17,953 observations of 2,902 microfinance institutions in 122 countries from 1999 to 2017.FindingsThe study's result shows no evidence of mission drift in the microfinance industry. While MFIs improve their economic returns, they also increase the depth of outreach. In addition, firm-level heterogeneity is the dominant effect which explains 44% of the variance in microfinance financial performance (ROA) and 39% of the variance in social performance (Depth of outreach). The country-level is more critical in explaining financial performance (ROA) than social performance (Depth of outreach), accounting for 11 and 32% of the total variance, respectively. In particular, the interplay between the country-level and organizational-category level accounts for 9 and 11% of the total variance in financial performance (ROA) and social performance (Depth of outreach), respectively.Originality/valueThis study’s multilevel analysis of microfinance performances moves the literature forward by responding to the debate on microfinance mission drift and providing a comprehensive overview of both social and financial performance. By focusing on the trend effect, the result of our models shows that MFIs improve both financial and social performance to fulfill dual missions. The microfinance business model becomes sustainable over time. The study's results of country effect and its interaction effect with different organizational categories reveal the prominence of a good policy design on MFI's mission fulfillment.

All in the family? The impact of founder directors and family governance on microfinance institutions' social performance

AbstractResearch Question/IssueThis study investigates the impact of family governance, including founder directors and their ties to family members on the board, on the social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs), a special kind of social enterprise with dual objectives.Research Findings/InsightsUsing a dataset of 735 MFIs operating in Bangladesh from 2007 to 2017, we find that founder directors and board members with family ties to the founder have an adverse impact on MFIs' social performance. These findings hold when we perform several robustness tests and endogeneity tests.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsWe contribute to the corporate governance literature on MFIs and social enterprises in two ways. First, our findings suggest that, when MFIs are confronted with dual performance objectives, founder directors may “trade off” social outcomes in favor of economic outcomes and therefore adversely affect MFIs' social performance. Second, our findings extend the literature by showing that the presence of board members with family ties to founder directors also adversely affects MFIs' social performance.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsThis study suggests that MFIs' board composition influences their governance and ability to oversee their social and financial performance effectively. If MFIs' social performance is a major concern of national policy makers, then regulation should be put in place to limit board recruitment with family ties.

Prediction of Factors Influencing Social Performance of Indian MFIs using Machine Learning Approach

The aim of the current work is to predict the impact of MFI specific internal factors on the social performance of Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) by using machine learning techniques. Social performance index (SPI) is designed by taking data of 73 Indian MFIs for 10 years with the help of an indexing technique where six different factors (operational self sufficiency, number of women borrowers, number of rural borrowers, gross loan portfolio, average loan balance per borrower / GNI per capita and cost per borrower) representing different dimensions of functioning of MFIs are considered. The data is taken from MIX data repository. Pooled OLS regression model is used for analyzing impact of various MFI specific factors on SPI. For predicting the SPI, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) machine learning model is considered that takes all independent variables as input. The results of regression model indicate that size, legal status, outreach and service provisions significantly affect SPI. ANN analysis result indicates that social performance of MFIs gets determined by MFI specific internal factors. The experimental result indicates that the proposed ANN prediction model is providing better result for predicting the SPI. The findings suggest that MFIs can contribute for development of the society by adopting suitable policies keeping in view certain internal factors.

Trade-offs in South Asian MFIs: regulation and governance structure

ABSTRACT This paper evaluates trade-offs and investigates the key performance determinants in different types of 468 South Asian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) for the period 1998–2019. Three indicators of financial performance are compared against multiple dimensions of breadth and depth of outreach to evaluate the trade-off between financial and social performance of MFIs. To clarify the direction of trade-off, we run Granger-Causality tests and accordingly, we regress financial performance measures on each suggested indicator of breadth and depth of outreach . Simultaneously, we also investigate the financial performance in relation to mainly different regulatory structure and profit orientation of types of MFIs by controlling for financial ratios, country and institutional control variables. The regression results show that there is no significant trade-off between the financial and social objectives in almost all specifications rather we have significant evidence for compatibility of dual objectives both in terms of breadth and depth of outreach in some specifications. We also find capital to assets ratio and experience to be prominently positively responsible for financial sustainability while risky and costly loans and being regulated MFIs reducing the financial performance of South Asian MFIs while profit orientation does not matter once we have controlled for regulatory structure.

Impact of capital structure on performance of microfinance institutions

Microfinance institutions play a crucial role in poverty alleviation and provide financial services to low-income households. Microfinance growth rate is quite high in Asia but an undesirable development is achieved due to high borrowing cost and inadequate reserves. For microfinance institutions, there is a need to determine a suitable mix of financing to stay sustainable. This study examines the impact of capital structure on the performance of microfinance institutions in Asia. Using a unique unbalanced panel data set of 253 microfinance institutions from 2000 to 2015, performance is measured in terms of sustainability, financial performance, social performance and efficiency. It is evident from the findings that capital structure and microfinance characteristics play a significant role in the performance. Grants to assets increase operational self-sufficiency and debt to equity increases the financial self-sufficiency of microfinance institutions. Microfinance characteristics like borrowers, loan intensity, and size of institutions upsurge sustainability. Banks and NGOs positively affect the financial and social performance of microfinance institutions. Deposit to asset ratio, debt to assets, and debt to equity impact outreach and return on the asset while grants decrease financial self-sufficiency and return on equity. At macroeconomic level, gross domestic product contributes to sustainability and management efficiency. However, inflation declines financial performance. Implications emerge from the findings are a crucial element in the performance of financial institutions. Microfinance institutions should maintain an optimal capital to ensure that their going concern is assured a all times. Therefore, managers should appropriately justify capital structure to stay sustainable.

Impact of Internal Corporate Governance Mechanism on Social Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Pakistan


 
 
 
 ABSTRACT 
 
 
 
 
 
 Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of internal corporate governance mechanisms on the social performance of microfinance institutions of Pakistan.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: A survey questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were collected manually and online (Google survey form). The data collected were analyzed through Smart PLS.
 Findings: The results showed that board of directors, board meetings and frequency of board meetings as components of internal corporate governance mechanism have a positive and significant impact on the social performance of microfinance institutions of Pakistan.
 Implications/Originality/Value: The originality and contribution of this study is that this is the first study that analyzed the impact of board of directors, board meetings and frequency of board meetings as a component of internal corporate governance mechanism on the social performance of microfinance institutions of Pakistan.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Corporate Governance Performance Relationship and the Role of Institutions and Culture: New Evidence from Asian Microfinance Institutions

Purpose: In a globalized world today, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) are concerned about their corporate governance mechanism to enhance financial and social performance. However, it largely depends on the existing institutional, cultural and economic factors. This paper furthers the debate on the impact of corporate governance on the financial and social performance of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Asian Context.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper utilizes a panel cross-country data set comprised of 183 MFIs in 18 Asian countries over the period of 2010-2018. For empirical analysis, it applies GMM regression technique to control for the endogeniety issue. 
 Findings: The results show that generally corporate governance mechanism contributes more towards social performance of MFIs than the financial performance and a conducive institutional environment enhances both financial and social performance. However, good cultural and economic values contribute only towards the social performance of MFIs.
 Implications/Originality/Value: Since majority of MFIs irrespective of their status are socially oriented. Therefore, good corporate governance mechanism is more effective in enhancing social performance in particular. Progress towards human development contributes to both financial and social performance of MFIs.

What Drives the Social Performance of Microfinance Institutions? The Role of Gender Board Diversity

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)’ business model is mission orientated to empower women and the poor to reach the social mission of sustainable development goals (SDG). This paper investigates whether women directors and institutional factors influence the five comprehensive and underexplored dimensions of MFIs’ social performance including social goals, governance & HR, products & services, client protection and environment. Using an international sample of 2,293 MFIs operating in 116 countries during the period 2010-2018, we find that women directors, female-friendly environment and stronger sustainable development environment have a positive impact on the social performance, whereas country-level governance mitigates the social performance. We find that more gender-diverse board influences particularly three dimensions of social performance: social goals, product & services and environment. The results are more pronounced for non-profit MFIs and MFIs located in a higher-ranked governance environment. MFIs’ social performance in the Africa region are more likely to benefit from a higher ratio of women on board than Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Our findings provide implications for MFIs, funders and policymakers regarding the measurement and drivers of the social performance of MFIs that is crucial for achieving SDG.

Interest rate and the social performance of microfinance institutions

The objective of this paper is to examine the effect of interest rate on the social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs). This objective is pursued by employing data from 555 MFIs operating in 74 countries. The econometric techniques utilized in this paper have produced robust results suggesting that interest rate boosts the social performance (both the breadth and depth of outreach) of MFIs. The paper explains this outcome with no-alternative hypothesis. Clients of MFIs are mostly poor and, thus, lack access to alternative sources of funding. This compels them to access microcredit at any interest rates.

Assessing the impact of information and communication technologies on the performance of microfinance institutions in Niger

This paper assesses the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Niger, West Africa. MFIs play a pivotal role in improving financial inclusion in Niger because the majority of the country’s poor live in rural areas, with only limited and costly access to formal financial services. Using an unbalanced panel of 23 MFIs spanning 2005–2013, single-step generalized moments method (GMM) estimations are run to appraise whether ICT investments improve the financial and the social performance of MFIs. The results show a positive relationship between investments in ICTs and MFIs’ financial performance. Investing more in technologies enables managers to reduce the frequency of operational errors, increase the speed of task execution, decrease operating costs, and increase the likelihood of higher financial profits. The findings also reveal a positive effect of institutional affiliation on the financial performance of MFIs. Namely, MFIs affiliated with a network and investing in ICTs tend to perform better. The impact of ICT investments on the social performance of MFIs is rather weak. From a policy perspective, developing ICT infrastructure can yield substantial performance dividends and should remain a top developmental priority in Niger.

Impact of Competition on Social Performance of MFIs: Comparative Analysis of India and Bangladesh

Although studies encompassing the different aspect of microfinance like sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs), role of microfinance in poverty alleviation, etc., have enriched the literature from time to time, studies on competition and its impact on social performance of MFIs are scarce. There also exists lacking consensus as to how can competition influence MFIs’ social performance. The empirical evidence reveals duality of opinion. With information asymmetry, competition enhances borrowers’ indebtedness and lowers expected loan repayment and impeding loan quality. Furthermore, in order to overcome these problems, MFIs would engage in more screening that raises their operational costs. This encumbers the sustainability of MFIs. Thus, the socially oriented MFIs, in order to remain sustainable, start targeting the less poor borrowers. But the other view holds that as competition intensifies, it provokes the MFIs to remain committed with the social objective and to strive to retain the clients. The theory on impact of competition on the social performance of MFIs may be either positive or negative, which calls for further investigation. Against this backdrop, this article attempts to assess the impact of competition on social performance of MFIs in India and Bangladesh. The study is conducted over 53 MFIs from India and 20 MFIs from Bangladesh on which a complete set of data is available. The study period is confined to 9 years from 2009 to 2017. In order to establish the association between competition and MFIs’ social performance, panel data regression is used. The study takes into account the depth and breadth of outreach as the dependent variable. The study uses panel data regression to establish the association between competition and social performance of MFIs. The empirical analysis reveals that competition has no significant association with any of the measures of social performance. This implies that social performance in the sector is explained by other factors. Amongst the country-specific variables, it is clear from analyses that gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation are important determining factors of MFIs’ social performance. Country of origin (COO) of the MFIs is one of the determining factors for social performance as it is found to be significant for three out of the four models. It is also evident from the analyses that Bangladeshi MFIs have a greater impact on MFIs’ social performance in terms of outreach in comparison to Indian MFIs. While for percentage of female borrowers (PFB), Indian MFIs account for greater depth of outreach in comparison to Bangladesh.

Go for a Woman if you Feel Risky: Evidence from Gender Diversity in MFIs

This paper contributes to the literature on management and corporate governance in microfinance institutions. Themicrofinance market is one of the rare markets with a large representation of women in management and governanceroles. The objective of our paper is to reveal the effects of women’s presence on the financial and social performance ofmicrofinance institutions.To achieve this, we develop a model that allows for capturing the influence of gender diversity in the microfinance fieldwhilst controlling for risks. We focus on the role of women as loan officers, on boards of directors, and involved inmanaging the creation of microfinance institutions. Our model utilises two sets of panel data regressions, one for socialperformance and one for financial performance, and is tested on data from 193 microfinance institutions across EasternEurope and Central Asia for the financial years 2010 through 2014.The results of our investigation indicate that the activity of female members of management, CEOs, and boards ofdirectors could increase performance indicators for riskier microfinance institutions. This is illustrated particularly inthe case of projects with greater stakes in portfolios that are more than 90 days in arrears. We also provide evidencethat women on boards tend more towards promoting a strategy utilising large quantities of small loans with greaterinterest. The social performance of microfinance institutions is crucially determined by the microfinance institutions’size. For the largest microfinance institutions, questions of social performance lie in the field of boards of directors, whilesmaller institutions’ social performance is mostly driven by CEOs and staff, with significant evidence of a positive femaleinfluence on performance indicators.The novelty of this study is demonstrated the scope of our research. We combine several contemporary issues of peculiarcross-disciplinary interest, and offer succinct and compelling results which will be of immediate applicability in a widerange of academic and professional fields. Our results will be of interest to scholars of gender, social studies, psychology,business, corporate structure, and more. More specifically, we add to the evolving sub-field of study of microfinanceinstitutions, which has the potential to develop rapidly in the near future. This paper represents a cross-section ofcommercial and business research across a wide territory, with a large sample size, and provides compelling conclusions,which add to these fields of study by both validating existing research, and highlighting new areas for future analysis.

The impact of financial and social performance of microfinance institutions on lending interest rate: A cross-country evidence

The present paper examines the impact of financial and social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) on lending interest rate. The paper has covered five-star-rated MFIs in all the six reg...

New approaches to measure the social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs)

Outreach is a central purpose of microfinance institutions in providing access to quality financial services for large numbers of poor people. This paper critically reviews outreach indicators for microfinance institutions from prior research using a South Asian panel data set covering the period 1998 to 2013. We introduce two new ways of measuring the social objectives of MFIs, reflecting market shares, for breadth and depth of outreach. The results show that these new outreach indicators provide a better explanation of social performance of MFIs than those commonly used in prior research.

Microfinance Performance and Social Capital: A Cross-Country Analysis

In recent years, the microfinance industry has received a substantial amount of cross-border funding from both public and private sources. This funding reflects the increasing interest in microfinance as part of a more general trend towards socially responsible investments. In order to be able to secure sustained interest from these investors, it is important that the microfinance industry can show evidence of its contribution to reducing poverty at the bottom of the pyramid. For this, it is crucial to understand under what conditions microfinance institutions (MFIs) are able to reduce poverty. This paper contributes to this discussion by investigating the relationship between the extent to which social capital formation is facilitated within different societies and the financial and social performance of MFIs. This focus on social capital formation is important, because in many cases MFIs use group loans with joint liability to incentivize asset-poor borrowers to substitute the lack of physical collateral by their social capital. Hence, the success of a large part of the loan relationship between MFIs and their borrowers depends on the social capital those borrowers can bring into the contract. We carry out a cross-country analysis on a dataset containing 100 countries and identify different social dimensions as proxies for how easy social capital can be developed in different countries. We hypothesize that microfinance is more successful, both in terms of their financial and social aims, in societies that are more conducive to the development of social capital. Our empirical results support our hypothesis.

Effect of Corporate Governance on Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Case from Pakistan

ABSTRACTWe aim to assess the effect of corporate governance on the financial, economic, and social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Pakistan. The sample comprises twenty-five MFIs and covers their performance over five years, 2005–09. The results of the study indicate that governance variables do have an influence on the performance (economic and social) and productivity of the MFIs in Pakistan. Larger boards inversely affect the economic performance but have a positive effect on outreach and productivity. Presence of female directors does not play any role in improving economic performance but positively affects outreach. Duality of chair with CEO is a negative contributor to performance, outreach, and productivity. Firm size, experience, regulation of MFIs, and nonprofit activities in lending have positive effects on performance outreach and productivity.