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Mission drift in microfinance: are the concerns really worrying? Recent cross-country results

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  • Ashim Kumar Kar

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of profitability on depth of outreach in microfinance institutions, a trade-off between which is commonly known as ‘mission drift', using a unique panel database containing 4--6 years' observations from 409 MFIs in 71 countries. The concerns for ‘mission drift' seemed invalid, although several countervailing results also emerged when scaling up indicators of size and age are included. The positive significant association between MFI-size and average loan amount suggests some extent of mission drift. Similar results were found when female borrowers' participation was the measure for outreach. However, the study largely fails to validate that the concerns for mission drift were true if it is defined as a distinctive trade-off between increased profit-motivation and depth of outreach of MFIs.

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  • Ashim Kumar Kar, 2013. "Mission drift in microfinance: are the concerns really worrying? Recent cross-country results," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 44-60, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:irapec:v:27:y:2013:i:1:p:44-60
    DOI: 10.1080/02692171.2012.700701
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    1. Beatriz Armendáriz & Ariane Szafarz, 2011. "On Mission Drift in Microfinance Institutions," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Beatriz Armendáriz & Marc Labie (ed.), The Handbook Of Microfinance, chapter 16, pages 341-366, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
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    Cited by:

    1. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Röhe, Michaela & Renier, Noémie, 2017. "The access of microfinance institutions to debt capital: An empirical investigation of microfinance investment vehicles," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-15.
    2. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Nguyen, Quynh Anh & Röhe, Michaela, 2019. "Microfinance institutions and the provision of mobile financial services: First empirical evidence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    3. Lalitagauri Kulkarni, 2017. "Financial efficiency versus social outreach of Indian microfinance institutions: mission drift or character shift?," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 19(2), pages 323-340, October.
    4. Adusei, Michael, 2021. "Interest rate and the social performance of microfinance institutions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 21-30.
    5. Ana C Rostran Molina & Anindya Banerjee & Federico Lampis, 2015. "Micro-Finance and Credit Access in the Agricultural Sector of Nicaragua," Discussion Papers 15-04, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    6. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill, 2020. "Microfinance financial sustainability and outreach: is there a trade-off?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1329-1350, September.
    7. Caserta, Maurizio & Monteleone, Simona & Reito, Francesco, 2018. "The trade-off between profitability and outreach in microfinance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 31-41.
    8. Mira Nurmakhanova & Gavin Kretzschmar & Hassouna Fedhila, 2015. "Trade-off between financial sustainability and outreach of microfinance institutions," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 231-250, December.
    9. Amidou Ayinla Akangbe Fadikpe & Richard Danquah & Mohammed Aidoo & Dejene Adugna Chomen & Richard Yankey & Xie Dongmei, 2022. "Linkages between social and financial performance: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa microfinance institutions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-23, March.
    10. 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.
    11. B. Mak Arvin & Byron Lew (ed.), 2015. "Handbook on the Economics of Foreign Aid," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15762.
    12. Giovanna Aguilar & Jhonatan Portilla, 2020. "Determinants of Market Power in the Peruvian Regulated Microfinance Sector," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 657-688, December.
    13. Ashim Kumar Kar & Ranjula Bali Swain, 2018. "Competition, Performance and Portfolio Quality in Microfinance Markets," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(5), pages 842-870, December.
    14. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Priberny, Christopher & Röhe, Michaela, 2017. "Why do microfinance institutions fail socially? A global empirical examination," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 81-89.
    15. Maxime LEBOVICS & Niels HERMES & Marek HUDON, 2016. "Are Financial And Social Efficiency Mutually Exclusive? A Case Study Of Vietnamese Microfinance Institutions," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(1), pages 55-77, December.
    16. Ashim Kumar Kar, 2017. "Income Smoothing, Capital Management and Provisioning Behaviour of Microfinance Institutions: A Study Using Global Panel Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 108-126, January.
    17. Leif Atle Beisland & Kwame Ohene Djan & Roy Mersland & Trond Randøy, 2021. "Measuring Social Performance in Social Enterprises: A Global Study of Microfinance Institutions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 51-71, June.
    18. Adriana Ramírez Rocha & Mauricio Cervantes Zepeda & Luis Arturo Bernal Ponce, 2019. "The determinants of outreach and profitability in MFI's: a structural equation approach," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 14(1), pages 129-146, Enero-Mar.
    19. Adriana Ramírez Rocha & L. Arturo Bernal Ponce & Mauricio Cervantes Zepeda, 2019. "Differences in the interest rates of microfinance institutions in some emerging markets economies: An HLM approach/Diferencias en las tasas de interés entre instituciones financieras de algunas econo," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 34(2), pages 275-307.
    20. Leif Atle Beisland & Bert D’Espallier & Roy Mersland, 2019. "The Commercialization of the Microfinance Industry: Is There a ‘Personal Mission Drift’ Among Credit Officers?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 119-134, August.
    21. 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).

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