IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v39y2015i4p927-953.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Entrepreneur–CEOs in Microfinance Institutions: A Global Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Trond Randøy
  • R. Øystein Strøm
  • Roy Mersland

Abstract

Microfinance is a global high–growth industry, in which entrepreneurship is prevalent and substantial. Based on the theoretical argument that microfinance entrepreneur–chief executive officers (CEOs) are “motivated agents†with a unique ability to hire and socialize mission–oriented staff, we hypothesize that these CEOs produce more sustainable microfinance institutions (MFIs) with better social performance and lower costs. This study utilizes data from 295 MFIs in 73 developing countries, assessed between 1998 and 2010. Our empirical evidence suggests that entrepreneur–managed MFIs feature higher social performance, greater financial sustainability, and lower costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Trond Randøy & R. Øystein Strøm & Roy Mersland, 2015. "The Impact of Entrepreneur–CEOs in Microfinance Institutions: A Global Survey," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(4), pages 927-953, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:39:y:2015:i:4:p:927-953
    DOI: 10.1111/etap.12085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/etap.12085
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/etap.12085?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    2. Miner, John B., 1990. "Entrepreneurs, high growth entrepreneurs, and managers: Contrasting and overlapping motivational patterns," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 221-234, July.
    3. Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2009. "Founder-CEOs, Investment Decisions, and Stock Market Performance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 439-466, April.
    4. Mark Schreiner, 2002. "Aspects of outreach: a framework for discussion of the social benefits of microfinance," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(5), pages 591-603.
    5. Harvey James, 1999. "Owner as Manager, Extended Horizons and the Family Firm," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 41-55.
    6. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    7. Timothy Besley & Maitreesh Ghatak, 2005. "Competition and Incentives with Motivated Agents," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 616-636, June.
    8. KruegerJR, Norris F. & Reilly, Michael D. & Carsrud, Alan L., 2000. "Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 411-432.
    9. James Heckman & Salvador Navarro-Lozano, 2004. "Using Matching, Instrumental Variables, and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 30-57, February.
    10. Norris F. Krueger Jr. & Deborah V. Brazeal, 1994. "Entrepreneurial Potential and Potential Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(3), pages 91-104, April.
    11. Benson Honig, 1998. "Who gets the goodies? An examination of microenterprise credit in Jamaica," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 313-334, January.
    12. Mersland, Roy & Øystein Strøm, R., 2009. "Performance and governance in microfinance institutions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 662-669, April.
    13. Ahlin, Christian & Lin, Jocelyn & Maio, Michael, 2011. "Where does microfinance flourish? Microfinance institution performance in macroeconomic context," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 105-120, July.
    14. James Austin & Howard Stevenson & Jane Wei–Skillern, 2006. "Social and Commercial Entrepreneurship: Same, Different, or Both?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(1), pages 1-22, January.
    15. Post, Colleen & Meyskens, Moriah, 2008. "Social venture strategy from a resource based perspective: an exploratory study assessing Ashoka Fellows," MPRA Paper 8881, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Hartarska, Valentina & Shen, Xuan & Mersland, Roy, 2013. "Scale economies and input price elasticities in microfinance institutions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 118-131.
    17. Moriah Meyskens & Colleen Robb–Post & Jeffrey A. Stamp & Alan L. Carsrud & Paul D. Reynolds, 2010. "Social Ventures from a Resource–Based Perspective: An Exploratory Study Assessing Global Ashoka Fellows," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(4), pages 661-680, July.
    18. Chami, Ralph & Fullenkamp, Connel, 2002. "Trust and efficiency," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(9), pages 1785-1809, September.
    19. Hearn, Bruce, 2011. "The impact of corporate governance measures on the performance of West African IPO firms," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 130-151, June.
    20. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    21. Heckman, James J, 1978. "Dummy Endogenous Variables in a Simultaneous Equation System," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 931-959, July.
    22. Schein, Edgar H., 1983. "The role of the founder in the creation of organizational culture," Working papers 1407-83., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    23. Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein, 2010. "Microfinance Mission Drift?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 28-36, January.
    24. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    25. Adams, Renée & Almeida, Heitor & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Understanding the relationship between founder-CEOs and firm performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 136-150, January.
    26. Cumming, Douglas (ed.), 2012. "The Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurial Finance," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195391244.
    27. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1301-1327 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. J. Robert Baum & Barbara J. Bird, 2010. "The Successful Intelligence of High-Growth Entrepreneurs: Links to New Venture Growth," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 397-412, April.
    29. David Hulme, 2008. "The Story of the Grameen Bank: From Subsidised Microcredit to Market-based Microfinance," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 6008, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    30. Andreoni, James, 1990. "Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(401), pages 464-477, June.
    31. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
    32. Geoffrey M. Kistruck & Paul W. Beamish, 2010. "The Interplay of Form, Structure, and Embeddedness in Social Intrapreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(4), pages 735-761, July.
    33. Jean Tirole, 2006. "The Theory of Corporate Finance," Post-Print hal-00173191, HAL.
    34. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    35. McIntosh, Craig & Wydick, Bruce, 2005. "Competition and microfinance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 271-298, December.
    36. Begley, Thomas M. & Boyd, David P., 1987. "Psychological characteristics associated with performence in entrepreneurial firms and smaller businesses," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 79-93.
    37. Michael Lounsbury & Mary Ann Glynn, 2001. "Cultural entrepreneurship: stories, legitimacy, and the acquisition of resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 545-564, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alon, Ilan & Mersland, Roy & Musteen, Martina & Randøy, Trond, 2020. "The research frontier on internationalization of social enterprises," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(5).
    2. Nyarko, Samuel Anokye, 2022. "Gender discrimination and lending to women: The moderating effect of an international founder," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    3. Hans Rawhouser & Michael Cummings & Scott L. Newbert, 2019. "Social Impact Measurement: Current Approaches and Future Directions for Social Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 82-115, January.
    4. Xing, Yijun & Liu, Yipeng & Lattemann, Christoph, 2020. "Institutional logics and social enterprises: Entry mode choices of foreign hospitals in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(5).
    5. Sommeno, Tigist Woldetsadik & Mersland, Roy & Randøy, Trond, 2024. "The impact of liability of foreignness on performance in hybrid organizations," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2).
    6. Malikov, Emir & Hartarska, Valentina & Mersland, Roy, 2020. "Economies of diversification in microfinance: Evidence from quantile estimation on panel data," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    7. Liu, Aiping & Urquía-Grande, Elena & López-Sánchez, Pilar & Rodríguez-López, Ángel, 2023. "Research into microfinance and ICTs: A bibliometric analysis," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hossain, Shahadat & Galbreath, Jeremy & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Randøy, Trond, 2020. "Does competition enhance the double-bottom-line performance of microfinance institutions?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    2. D. Pascal & R. Mersland & N. Mori, 2017. "The influence of the CEO’s business education on the performance of hybrid organizations: the case of the global microfinance industry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 339-354, August.
    3. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    4. Janda, Karel & Zetek, Pavel, 2014. "Mikrofinanční Revoluce: Aktuální Kontroverze A Výzvy [Microfinance Revolution: Recent Controversies And Challenges]," MPRA Paper 54098, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Niels Hermes & Marek Hudon, 2018. "Determinants Of The Performance Of Microfinance Institutions: A Systematic Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 1483-1513, December.
    6. Janda, Karel & Zetek, Pavel, 2014. "Survey of Microfinance Controversies and Challenges," MPRA Paper 56657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Karel Janda & Pavel Zetek, 2015. "Mikrofinanční revoluce: kontroverze a výzvy [Microfinance Revolution: Controversies and Challenges]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(1), pages 108-130.
    8. Eugster, Nicolas & Isakov, Dušan, 2019. "Founding family ownership, stock market returns, and agency problems," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Hermes, Cornelis & Hudon, M., 2018. "Determinants of the Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Systematic Review," Research Report 2018008, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    10. Ahmad, Syedah & Lensink, Robert & Mueller, Annika, 2020. "The double bottom line of microfinance: A global comparison between conventional and Islamic microfinance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    11. Xie, Yamin, 2015. "Acquirer performance when founders remain in the firm," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 273-297.
    12. Junyon Im & Sunny Sun, 2015. "Profits and outreach to the poor: The institutional logics of microfinance institutions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 95-117, March.
    13. Simon Zaby, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Microfinance: Influential Authors and Documents, 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-21, July.
    14. Chen, Cheng & Steinwender, Claudia, 2021. "Import competition, heterogeneous preferences of managers, and productivity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    15. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    16. Emilios Galariotis & Christophe Villa & Nurmukhammad Yusupov, 2011. "Recent Advances in Lending to the Poor with Asymmetric Information," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(9), pages 1371-1390, July.
    17. Hailu Abebe Wondirad, 2020. "Competition and microfinance institutions’ performance: evidence from India," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    18. Bos, Jaap W.B. & Millone, Matteo, 2015. "Practice What You Preach: Microfinance Business Models and Operational Efficiency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 28-42.
    19. Li, Feng & Srinivasan, Suraj, 2011. "Corporate governance when founders are directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 454-469.
    20. Kendo, Sandra & Tchakounte, Josephine, 2022. "The drivers of the financial integration of microfinance Institutions: Do financial development, agency costs and microfinance performance matter?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 128-142.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:39:y:2015:i:4:p:927-953. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.