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Financial performance and outreach: a global analysis of leading microbanks

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Author Info
Robert Cull
Asli Demirguç-Kunt
Jonathan Morduch

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Abstract

Microfinance promises to reduce poverty by employing profit-making banking practices in low-income communities. Many microfinance institutions have secured high loan repayment rates but, so far, relatively few earn profits. We examine why this promise remains unmet. We explore patterns of profitability, loan repayment, and cost reduction with unusually high-quality data on 124 institutions in 49 countries. The evidence shows the possibility of earning profits while serving the poor, but a trade-off emerges between profitability and serving the poorest. Raising fees to very high levels does not ensure greater profitability and the benefits of cost-cutting diminish when serving better-off customers. Copyright 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation Royal Economic Society 2007.

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File URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02017.x
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Royal Economic Society in its journal The Economic Journal.

Volume (Year): 117 (2007)
Issue (Month): 517 (02)
Pages: F107-F133
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Handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:117:y:2007:i:517:p:f107-f133

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Besley, Timothy & Guinnane, Timothy W, 1994. "Thy Neighbor's Keeper: The Design of a Credit Cooperative with Theory and a Test," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 491-515, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Armendariz de Aghion, Beatriz, 1999. "On the design of a credit agreement with peer monitoring," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 79-104, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Dean S. Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2005. "Observing Unobservables: Identifying Information Asymmetries with a Consumer Credit Field Experiment," Working Papers 911, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Ghatak, Maitreesh, 2000. "Screening by the Company You Keep: Joint Liability Lending and the Peer Selection Effect," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(465), pages 601-31, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Savings, credit and insurance," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery† & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 36, pages 2123-2207 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1990. "Peer Monitoring and Credit Markets," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 351-66, September.
  7. Conning, Jonathan, 1999. "Outreach, sustainability and leverage in monitored and peer-monitored lending," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 51-77, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Dean Karlan & Xavier Gine & Jonathan Morduch & Pamela Jakiela, 2006. "Microfinance Games," Working Papers 936, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Gonzalez, Adrian, 2007. "Resilience of Microfinance Institutions to National Macroeconomic Events: An Econometric Analysis of MFI asset quality," MPRA Paper 4317, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Marek Hudon & Daniel Traca, 2006. "On the Efficiency Effects of Subsidies in Microfinance: An Empirical Inquiry," Working Papers CEB 06-020.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
  3. Cull , Robert & Demirguc-Kunt , Asli & Morduch, Jonathan, 2009. "Does regulatory supervision curtail microfinance profitability and outreach ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4948, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  4. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2008. "Finance and economic opportunity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4468, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Koen Rossel-Cambier, 2008. "Combined Micro-Finance: Selected Research Questions from a Stakeholder Point of View," Working Papers CEB 08-004.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
  6. Suman Ghosh & Eric Van Tassel, 2008. "A Model of Mission Drift in Microfinance Institutions," Working Papers 08003, Department of Economics, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University. [Downloadable!]
  7. Beatriz Armendariz & Ariane Szafarz, 2009. "On Mission Drift In Microfinance Institutions," Working Papers CEB 09-015.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
  8. Mersland, Roy & Strøm, Reidar Øystein, 2007. "Performance and corporate governance in microfinance institutions," MPRA Paper 3887, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  9. Mersland, Roy & Strøm, Reidar Øystein, 2007. "Performance and corporate governance in microfinance institutions," MPRA Paper 3888, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  10. Deininger, Klaus & Liu, Yanyan, 2009. "Determinants of repayment performance in Indian micro-credit groups," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4885, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  11. Mersland, Roy & Strøm, Reidar Øystein, 2007. "Performance and trade-offs in microfinance organizations - does ownership matter?," MPRA Paper 2063, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jul 2007. [Downloadable!]
  12. Katsushi Imai & Raghav Gaiha & Ganesh Thapa, 2008. "Financial crisis in Asia and the Pacific Region: Its genesis, severity and impact on poverty and hunger," The School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 0810, Economics, The University of Manchester. [Downloadable!]
  13. Marek Hudon, 2006. "Fair interest rates when lending to the poor: Are fair prices derived from basic principles of justice?," Working Papers CEB 06-015.RS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB). [Downloadable!]
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