The Relationship Between Social Performance and Operational Sustainability of Vietnam’s Formal Microfinance Institutions

Author(s):  
Van Duong Ha
2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (75) ◽  
pp. 377-389
Author(s):  
Ruan Rodrigo Araújo da Costa

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between the legal forms adopted by microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their performance within three scopes: financial performance, social performance, and efficiency in resource allocation. The MFIs studied are classified into four groups: banks, non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, and a fourth group formed of for-profit institutions not characterized as banks, made up of non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) and rural banks. The data used are annual and cover the six years from 2007 to 2012. The quantitative regression model with panel data was used together with dummy variables to compare between the four groups of legal forms, except for the group made up of NBFIs and rural banks, which was not represented by any dummy variable. 304 MFIs from 59 countries made up the sample. In the study it was observed that larger MFIs have higher profits, higher returns, and higher operational self-sufficiency rates than smaller MFIs, indicating that MFI growth could enable consolidation in the microfinance market. The results also indicate that for smaller MFIs the way to consolidate and improve the indicators could be through assimilating or merging with other MFIs. It was also noted that non-bank financial institutions and rural banks are able to serve more customers and that cooperatives provide smaller loans, causing a bigger social impact, and that they obtain higher returns and profits. The results indicate that these legal forms may be the most appropriate for the microfinance market.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Dorfleitner ◽  
Davide Forcella ◽  
Quynh Anh Nguyen

PurposeThis study seeks to identify the factors that are associated with the digital transformation of microfinance institutions (MFIs).Design/methodology/approachThe study employs probit models to investigate the likelihood of integrating digital solutions by MFIs and Heckman models for robustness checks.FindingsThe findings reveal that the adoption of these tools is consistent with the social performance of MFIs. Furthermore, the profitability of the institutions and their home country development are associated with a larger application of digital support solutions.Research limitations/implicationsSince the survey data collected is not longitudinal and does not cover many MFIs, it may encounter the absence of comprehensive results. Moreover, the study is limited to supply-side incentive factors, thus lacks of investigations under supply-demand interaction schemes. Therefore, future studies are encouraged to fill up these knowledge gaps.Practical implicationsThe results imply that the adoption of digital solutions does not necessarily harm the social performance of MFIs. In addition, the findings may imply that financial sustainability can serve as being a preliminary condition but must not lead to the mission drift of MFIs. Findings of the study have implications for policymakers, donors and investors who wish to accelerate the digital transformation within the microfinance industry and to significantly boost financial inclusion. A focus on more social-oriented MFIs can be an appropriate solution. Furthermore, the pathway to digital financial inclusion through microfinance can be made more efficient if improved and supportive facilities as well as systems for digital technology are available.Originality/valueThis paper is the first one which highlights the relationship between the MFI's social performance and the application of digital solutions by MFIs. Furthermore, we discuss this link while considering cost aspects.


Author(s):  
Michael Adusei ◽  
Beatrice Sarpong-Danquah

Abstract We test the effect of institutional quality on capital structure in the microfinance setting. In doing this, we rely on data from 532 microfinance institutions (MFIs) located in 73 countries dotted across the six microfinance regions in the world. We observe that institutional quality exhibits a robust negative and statistically significant relationship with capital structure in both the short and long run, implying that MFIs in countries with a better institutional environment are less likely to utilize more debt. Our moderation analysis furnishes us with evidence that the presence of women on the board of an MFI significantly moderates the relationship between institutional quality and its capital structure. We show that in the presence of more female representation on the boards of MFIs, the tendency of MFIs using less debt is higher.


Author(s):  
Hailu Abebe Wondirad

Abstract This paper empirically examines whether competition (measured by using the new measure of competition, the Boone Indicator) moderates the relationship between Microfinance Institutions’ (MFIs) social and financial performances using data from 183 Indian MFIs over the period 2005–2014. The findings indicate that MFIs’ social and financial performances have a positive significant relationship. Moreover, the form of the relationship is both lead-lag and cotemporal. The Indian microfinance market was very competitive over the period 2005–2014. The empirical findings show that competition positively moderates the relationship between MFIs’ social and financial performances. More precisely, the empirical analysis provides evidence that the association between MFIs’ depth of outreach and operational self-sufficiency is conditional upon competition. These results suggest that in a competitive market, the more MFI deepen their depth of outreach, the higher contribution it has to their operational self-sufficiency.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Fersi ◽  
Mouna Bougelbène

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of credit risk-taking on financial and social efficiency and examine the relationship between credit risk, capital structure and efficiency in the context of Islamic microfinance institutions (MFIs) compared to their conventional counterparts.Design/methodology/approachThe stochastic frontier approach was used to estimate the financial and social efficiency scores, in a first step. In a second step, the impact of risk-taking on efficiency was evaluated. The authors also took into account the moderating role of capital structure in this effect using the fixed and random effects generalized least squares (GLS) with a first-order autoregressive disturbance. The used dataset covers 326 conventional MFIs and 57 Islamic MFIs in six different regions of the world over the period of 2005–2015.FindingsThe overall average efficiency scores are less than 50%, where CMFIs could have produced their outputs using 48% of their actual inputs. IMFIs record the lowest financial (cost) efficiency that is equal to 28% on average. The estimation results also reveal a negative impact of nonperforming loan on financial and social efficiency. Finally, the moderating effect of leverage funding on the relationship between credit risk-taking and financial efficiency was confirmed in CMFIs. However, leverage seems to moderate the effect of risk-taking behavior on social efficiency for IMFIs.Originality/valueThis paper makes an initial attempt to evaluate the effect of risk-taking decision and its implication on efficiency and MFIs' sustainability. Besides, it takes into consideration the role played by the mode of governance through the ownership structure. In addition, this research study sheds light on the importance of the financial support for the development and sustainability of these institutions, which in return, contributes to a sustainable economic development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Ruggiero ◽  
Sebastiano Cupertino

Given the current undefined relational effect between corporate financial performance (CFP) and corporate social performance (CSP) and the potentially myopic behavior of managers, this paper answers the call from some scholars to contribute towards a better understanding of the relationship between CFP and CSR. Different from other papers, it does so by analyzing the role of innovation activities as a mediator between CFP and CSR, applying a regression and mediation analysis between firms’ financial resources, innovation initiatives, and social and environmental performance. The results demonstrate that innovation is a critical factor in the relationship between CFP and corporate social performance (CSP) as it enables organizations to respond to new economic, social and environmental challenges faster and better than organizations that are not able to innovate. Therefore, the investment of financial resources in innovation initiatives is one of the most important levers to pursue and to increase CSP.


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