How microfinance really works
01 Jan 2016-
About: The article was published on 2016-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 6 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Agency (sociology) & Microfinance.
Citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of market structure in mediating the impact of micro-lending to survival micro-enterprises, i.e., businesses that the very poor with limited human capital have access to, in sectors with low barriers to entry and selling undifferentiated products.
Abstract: Poverty remains a pervasive problem all over the world, but the problem is worst in underdeveloped areas like Africa. While microfinance is supposed to address this problem through the promotion of viable businesses, it has not been very successful in helping survival microenterprises, i.e., businesses that the very poor with limited human capital have access to, in sectors with low barriers to entry and selling undifferentiated products. In this paper, I examine the role of market structure in mediating the impact of micro-lending to such survival enterprises. While there have been many evaluations of microfinance institutions (MFIs), there have been very few that look at market conditions as an input into the success of micro-lending. My theoretical analysis suggests that when introducing an extensive program of microcredit in undeveloped and relatively isolated rural areas, it is important to look at how the market structure mediates the impact of the provision of loans on the demand and supply for the end-product or service. I present some empirical evidence, which provides partial confirmation that MFIs are not currently taking these considerations into account.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the impact of micro-finance access on marketing infrastructure and operational scale of women entrepreneurs in the context of structural embeddedness in the network, and found that the structural embeddings have a weakening effect on this relationship for operational scale while having a strengthening effect on the relationship for marketing infrastructure.
Abstract: Financial inclusion remains one of the most promising avenues to bring about development for the poorest segments of society. A substantial body of work has looked into financial inclusion, especially in terms of microfinance, but much of it has been anecdotal and case-based. There is little scholarship that broadly investigates how microfinance-funded businesses choose to use the loans, especially given the ever-present competition for resources that such businesses face regarding which investment priority to pursue. In addition, the efficacy of these investments in terms of subsequent profitability remains unexplored, and so too does the influence of the entrepreneur’s embeddedness in the local community. The paper aims to discuss these issues.,This study reports the results from a field investigation of 927 women entrepreneurs who received a microfinance loan from a leading Indian microfinance institution. Logit and OLS regression models are employed in a moderation analysis by way of hierarchical regression.,Results indicate that access to microfinance increases the likelihood that the enterprise invests in marketing infrastructure and operational scale. In addition, structural embeddedness has a weakening effect on this relationship for operational scale while having a strengthening effect on the relationship for marketing infrastructure. Finally, operational scale is related to enterprise profitability, while marketing infrastructure is not. These findings suggest that embeddedness in the community is associated with the entrepreneur making sub-optimal choices regarding microfinance utilization.,To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the simultaneous marketing and operational impacts of microfinance access. It is also the first study to relate these measures to the profitability of the enterprise, especially in the context of structural embeddedness in the network.
14 citations
14 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the current state of micro-lending activity, and particularly for-profit activity, with ethical analysis of such lending, particularly as it pertains to prospects for poverty alleviation and development for the global poor.
Abstract: This entry focuses upon the current state of microlending activity, and particularly for-profit activity, with ethical analysis of such lending, particularly as it pertains to prospects for poverty alleviation and development for the global poor. Several specific events have lately altered the characteristics of microlending and the general assessments of its prospects: most notably the collapse of the for-profit microfinance market in Andhra Pradesh late in 2010 and research previously pursued within the same state of India that would greatly reduce our estimation of the promise of microcredit for poverty alleviation. This brief piece of writing indicates, but can hardly serve to argue fully, two conclusions. First, that current views of microlending, for better or worse, will tend to promote economic exclusion of the poorest. Second, because the advantages and disadvantages of microlending for poverty alleviation and for women's empowerment have a great deal to do with the specific circumstances of lending, unpromising results found in some circumstances may be taken with a grain of salt.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of regulation on credit risk is conditional on the level of competition, at the first percentile of competition; regulation does not reduce credit risk behaviour of MFIs, but does at competition level above the 25th percentile.
Abstract: In recent years there is increasing appetite for regulation of financial institutions after the 2008 financial crisis. Policy questions such as whether competitive micro finance institution (MFI) requires strong regulation to reduce, for example credit risk or competition and regulation operate in the opposite direction, which each tends to dampen the effect of the other, is an empirical issue that this paper provide answers based on data on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 1995 to 2015, utilizing panel data approaches. Finding from the study indicates that competition increases credit risk among MFIs in SSA, which regulation helps reduce such behaviour. The effect of regulation on credit risk is conditional on the level of competition, at the first percentile of competition; regulation does not reduce credit risk behaviour of MFIs, but does at competition level above the 25th percentile. Regulation on the other hand does not affect operational risk at any level of competition.
8 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of market structure in mediating the impact of micro-lending to survival micro-enterprises, i.e., businesses that the very poor with limited human capital have access to, in sectors with low barriers to entry and selling undifferentiated products.
Abstract: Poverty remains a pervasive problem all over the world, but the problem is worst in underdeveloped areas like Africa. While microfinance is supposed to address this problem through the promotion of viable businesses, it has not been very successful in helping survival microenterprises, i.e., businesses that the very poor with limited human capital have access to, in sectors with low barriers to entry and selling undifferentiated products. In this paper, I examine the role of market structure in mediating the impact of micro-lending to such survival enterprises. While there have been many evaluations of microfinance institutions (MFIs), there have been very few that look at market conditions as an input into the success of micro-lending. My theoretical analysis suggests that when introducing an extensive program of microcredit in undeveloped and relatively isolated rural areas, it is important to look at how the market structure mediates the impact of the provision of loans on the demand and supply for the end-product or service. I present some empirical evidence, which provides partial confirmation that MFIs are not currently taking these considerations into account.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the impact of micro-finance access on marketing infrastructure and operational scale of women entrepreneurs in the context of structural embeddedness in the network, and found that the structural embeddings have a weakening effect on this relationship for operational scale while having a strengthening effect on the relationship for marketing infrastructure.
Abstract: Financial inclusion remains one of the most promising avenues to bring about development for the poorest segments of society. A substantial body of work has looked into financial inclusion, especially in terms of microfinance, but much of it has been anecdotal and case-based. There is little scholarship that broadly investigates how microfinance-funded businesses choose to use the loans, especially given the ever-present competition for resources that such businesses face regarding which investment priority to pursue. In addition, the efficacy of these investments in terms of subsequent profitability remains unexplored, and so too does the influence of the entrepreneur’s embeddedness in the local community. The paper aims to discuss these issues.,This study reports the results from a field investigation of 927 women entrepreneurs who received a microfinance loan from a leading Indian microfinance institution. Logit and OLS regression models are employed in a moderation analysis by way of hierarchical regression.,Results indicate that access to microfinance increases the likelihood that the enterprise invests in marketing infrastructure and operational scale. In addition, structural embeddedness has a weakening effect on this relationship for operational scale while having a strengthening effect on the relationship for marketing infrastructure. Finally, operational scale is related to enterprise profitability, while marketing infrastructure is not. These findings suggest that embeddedness in the community is associated with the entrepreneur making sub-optimal choices regarding microfinance utilization.,To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the simultaneous marketing and operational impacts of microfinance access. It is also the first study to relate these measures to the profitability of the enterprise, especially in the context of structural embeddedness in the network.
14 citations
14 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the current state of micro-lending activity, and particularly for-profit activity, with ethical analysis of such lending, particularly as it pertains to prospects for poverty alleviation and development for the global poor.
Abstract: This entry focuses upon the current state of microlending activity, and particularly for-profit activity, with ethical analysis of such lending, particularly as it pertains to prospects for poverty alleviation and development for the global poor. Several specific events have lately altered the characteristics of microlending and the general assessments of its prospects: most notably the collapse of the for-profit microfinance market in Andhra Pradesh late in 2010 and research previously pursued within the same state of India that would greatly reduce our estimation of the promise of microcredit for poverty alleviation. This brief piece of writing indicates, but can hardly serve to argue fully, two conclusions. First, that current views of microlending, for better or worse, will tend to promote economic exclusion of the poorest. Second, because the advantages and disadvantages of microlending for poverty alleviation and for women's empowerment have a great deal to do with the specific circumstances of lending, unpromising results found in some circumstances may be taken with a grain of salt.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of regulation on credit risk is conditional on the level of competition, at the first percentile of competition; regulation does not reduce credit risk behaviour of MFIs, but does at competition level above the 25th percentile.
Abstract: In recent years there is increasing appetite for regulation of financial institutions after the 2008 financial crisis. Policy questions such as whether competitive micro finance institution (MFI) requires strong regulation to reduce, for example credit risk or competition and regulation operate in the opposite direction, which each tends to dampen the effect of the other, is an empirical issue that this paper provide answers based on data on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 1995 to 2015, utilizing panel data approaches. Finding from the study indicates that competition increases credit risk among MFIs in SSA, which regulation helps reduce such behaviour. The effect of regulation on credit risk is conditional on the level of competition, at the first percentile of competition; regulation does not reduce credit risk behaviour of MFIs, but does at competition level above the 25th percentile. Regulation on the other hand does not affect operational risk at any level of competition.
8 citations