我国农村微型金融机构存在的问题

农村微型金融机构在弥补农村金融服务空白,解决城乡金融发展不平衡等方面发挥了积极作用。但由于我国微型金融发展较晚,其发展的可持续性值得探究,文章分析了目前我国农村微型金融机构在运行中存在的诸如目标偏离、体系不健全、缺乏法律支持等制约因素。     

微型金融机构社会绩效研究进展述评

近年来,国际微型金融业的迅速发展使其社会绩效问题——微型金融机构是否以及如何履行服务穷人的社会使命问题——开始受到关注。本文分析了微型金融机构社会绩效领域的理论和实证研究进展,包括社会绩效的含义、社会绩效管理、社会绩效评估、社会绩效报告等内容,并在此基础上对相关研究进展进行评析,指出进一步研究的可行方向。     

微型金融机构可持续性影响因素研究

现阶段世界上大多数微型金融机构(MFIs)没有实现可持续发展,仍然依赖捐赠资金或补贴维持日常运营需要。影响微型金融机构可持续性的因素很复杂,我们在对现有的相关研究成果进行梳理和评述的基础上,采用2001—2011年间76个国家的218家MFIs的面板数据,分别从机构的财务绩效、具体性质和其所处的宏观环境层面,系统、深入地实证分析了MFIs可持续性的影响因素,研究结果显示:样本机构七个财务绩效维度的变量与其经营可持续性(OSS)呈显著的相关性;在机构的具体性质层面,受监管的MFIs可持续性更强;在机构所处的宏观环境层面,GDP年增长率较高的国家的MFIs可持续性更高,地区整体经济自由度和产权登记所需时间与机构的可持续性之间也有显著的相关性。     

微型金融机构信贷问题与对策研究

微型金融机构主要客户是财务不健全、缺少抵押与担保、信息严重不对称的小微企业与个人,如何有效管理信用风险、控制信贷审核成本是微型金融机构信贷业务亟待解决的问题。通过分析微型金融机构信贷业务面临的问题,利用贷款承诺与关系贷款理论,对微型金融机构信贷业务中存在的问题提出对策建议。     

微型金融机构的效率权衡：财务效率与社会效率 ——以江苏省小额贷款公司为例

在微型金融机构的财务持续和社会拓展双重目标下,本文采用56家江苏省小额贷款公司的调查数据,使用DEA Tobit方法分析了小额贷款公司的财务效率和社会效率的目标权衡。结果显示：（1）在经营策略和技术进步上,小额贷款公司的财务效率和社会的平均值基本等同,且效率值的数量分布相似,但经营规模上,财务效率的平均值小于社会效率,且其数量分布范围比社会效率更大;（2）金融发展对小额贷款公司的财务效率和社会效率均产生负向影响;（3）小额贷款公司的盈利能力、资产规模都有助于其财务效率和社会效率的提升,而支农广度仅对财务效率影响为负,但对社会效率的影响不明显。     

二元转型、信息流动变异与农村借贷合约的激励设计

文章在标准的借贷合约委托-代理模型基础上,通过引入二元转型所引起的信息流动变异,构建了一个农村借贷合约的拓展模型,提出了两个研究假说:一是农村金融机构借贷合约的激励结构设计随二元转型过程而变化;二是农村金融机构借贷合约的激励结构设计对金融机构类型具有敏感性。文章在此基础上利用泊松受限因变量模型进行了实证检验,主要得到以下结果:第一,反映二元转型与金融机构类型的系数均显著不为0,这为两个研究假说提供了经验证据;第二,新型农村金融机构的出现并没有降低农户的违约成本,合约的声誉自执行机制仍是有效的;第三,新型农村金融机构的出现对解决农村金融市场严重的信息不对称问题具有显著作用,农户借贷须提供抵押品的比例明显降低。文章的一个重要政策含义是,从优化借贷合约的角度看,进一步放宽农村金融机构准入限制,进而优化农村金融机构结构,或许是比利率市场化更有效的政策选择。     

WTO与中国农村金融机构体系的制度研究

本文旨在从农村金融机构体系的层面来研究加入WTO以后农村金融对农业发展的作用。文章以莫顿与博迪的金融功能理论为立论基础 ,分析、总结了我国农业实现结构调整和可持续发展对农村金融的要求 ,提出了现阶段农村金融应发挥的五大功能 ,再进一步结合金融功能对金融机构体系的要求 ,并按照规范经济学的研究方法 ,得出了必须对我国农村金融机构体系实施整合的结论。文章在最后提出了对我国农村金融机构体系实施整合的具体思路     

农村小型金融机构的改革与发展研究

我国小型金融机构理论与实践,与国际上的微型金融组织及相关理论密切相关。目前,试点中的小型金融机构主要是小额贷款公司、村镇银行和资金互助组织等。这些小型金融机构的试点与发展,为三农问题的解决提供了低成本、便捷、实惠的金融服务。但是,实践中也存在法律地位不明确、准入门槛过高、资金来源不畅、市场定位上偏离经济弱势群体等问题,影响了其比较优势的发挥。因此应当明确法律地位,培养农村金融本土人才,培育农村金融本土资本,拓宽资金来源渠道,一心一意解决三农问题。     

农村金融机构信息化研究

近年来,农村金融机构信息化速度发展越来越快,但与全国范围内的金融机构还有不小差距。随着大数据时代的到来,我国农村金融机构信息化建设面临着巨大的挑战,同时也是不小的机遇。抓住时代的脉络,在科技与金融相结合的浪潮下,信息化建设将迎来新的阶段性胜利。文章从农村金融机构信息化建设的发展历程写到现状,借鉴国外农村金融机构体系发展经验,提出符合本国国情的建议。     

微型金融与低收入群体信贷——理论及对我国新型农村金融机构的解析

在世界范围内,微型金融是对贫困及低收入群体提供金融服务的特殊的金融制度安排形式,其发展目标有所谓福利主义与制度主义之分。我国早期设立的微型金融以缓贫为目标,现阶段的亮点是发展以村镇银行、贷款公司及互助资金组织为主的新型农村金融组织。实证表明,我国新型微型农村金融在缓贫及对低收入群体提供金融支持方面,发展目标定位尚不清晰,覆盖面、盈利性及可持续性受到挑战。解决思路是重点提高缓贫及对低收入群体提供金融支持的覆盖面,增强农村新型金融机构的抗风险能力,降低经营成本,调整监管指标,并加强监管与政策扶持。     

Depth of outreach and financial sustainability of microfinance institutions

The primary justification for subsidizing Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) is their enhancement of social welfare by extending credit to the poor households. Therefore, recent emphasis on their financial self-sufficiency has created concern, that this may adversely affect the mission of social outreach. Utilizing data from 702 MFIs operating in 83 countries, this study shows empirical evidence of a positive complementary relationship between financial sustainability and depth of outreach.     

Financing microfinance institutions: subsidies or deposit mobilisation

According to conventional wisdom, dependence on subsidies cannot achieve the double bottom lines of microfinance institutions (MFIs): outreach and financial sustainability. The application of market-based principles to microfinancing, such as deposit mobilisation, has been long suggested as an answer to this problem. This paper documents the following findings regarding this issue. First, deposit mobilisation crowds out subsidies. Second, subsidies and deposit mobilisation reduce microcredit interest rates and allow MFIs to reach poorer borrowers. Third, subsidies and deposit mobilisation worsen financial sustainability. Fourth, subsidies reduce repayment rates, while deposit mobilisation has no impact on repayment. Overall, the results suggest that neither subsidies nor deposit mobilisation solve the traditional problem of trade-off between outreach and financial sustainability.     

Outreach and performance of microfinance institutions: a panel analysis

Using a panel of 764 microfinance institutions (MFIs) from 87 countries, this study analyses the possible trade-off between outreach and performance and shows that greater depth of outreach has a positive impact on the financial performance of an MFI. The empirical results of this study should dispel the widely held apprehension that the recent emphasis on attainment of financial sustainability by the MFIs could seriously impair their outreach efforts and shows that outreach to the poor can actually bolster financial performance.     

Is the model “loans‐plus‐savings” better for microfinance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia? A propensity score matching comparison

Microfinance institutions are gradually evolving into multiservice organizations offering not only loans but also savings, and other financial and nonfinancial services. We contribute to the literature aimed at identifying how combining credit with savings affects outreach and sustainability in microfinance institutions (MFIs). We apply the propensity score matching method as well as its augmented dose–response version to compare the performance of loans‐plus‐savings MFIs with that of lending‐only in a sample of 710 observations from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Owing to our unique capital structure data, we control for the use of subsidized capital, which related work ignores while existing evidence points to tradeoffs between subsidies and savings. We find that financial performance and breadth of outreach are positively associated with savings mobilization, while the evidence on depth of outreach points to a possible mission drift.     

Do women borrowers augment financial performance of MFIs?

There is some consensus that depth of outreach and financial performance of Microfinance Institutions (MFI) are positively correlated. A majority of microcredit borrowers are women and since the prevalence of female borrowers is even greater among the very poor, there should be a positive correlation between female borrowers and financial performance. Most of the MFIs target women as preferred borrowers. However, no study to date has investigated the relationship between targeting women and MFI’s sustainability with respect to profitability and yield. Utilizing a panel of 892 MFIs over a period of 10 years, this study shows that increased proportion of women borrowers has a statistically significant positive impact on yield and financial performance of MFIs. Consequently, this article also analyses the implication as to whether female borrowers have better repayment rate than male borrowers.     

ARE FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL EFFICIENCY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE? A CASE STUDY OF VIETNAMESE MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS

A major debate in microfinance focuses on the existence of a trade‐off between the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their outreach to poor clients. This paper adds to this debate by analyzing whether financial and social efficiency are mutually exclusive in a context of implicit subsidies by the state and international donors. We use data from a sample of 28 Vietnamese MFIs and apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to identify the existence of a trade‐off. Our analysis shows that for Vietnamese MFIs financial and social efficiency are not related. We interpret this as evidence for the fact that there is no support to believe that there is such a trade‐off. Subsidies, based on which most Vietnamese MFIs currently operate, helps them to show high financial efficiency, while at the same time being able to attain their social goals. Nevertheless, this model may not be sustainable in the long‐term.     

Does Institutional Linkage of Bank‐MFI Foster Inclusive Financial Development Even in the Presence of MFI Frauds?

Growing reports indicate the presence of frauds in microfinance institutions (MFIs), as it can occur in any organization in countries where there are weak institutions, weak rule of law, and fraudulent behavior of MFI officers for personal gain. While there are increasing calls to launch financial governance of these NGO MFIs, there are concerns as to whether frauds of this nature can damage MFIs’ contributions to the credit market, particularly in the bank‐linkage program where the NGO MFIs act as third party intermediary. The purpose of this study was to analyze the collusion decisions faced by MFIs and their impact on the bank‐linkage program, which has been offered as a solution to help overcome adverse selection and moral hazard problems in the credit market by harnessing local information via MFIs. Our results show that even when there is a chance of collusion between MFI and the borrower, the linkage between MFI and bank can still increase the probability that the borrower puts in full effort, and therefore decreases the probabilities of both credit rationing and strategic default. Such linkage in financing viable projects can make micro‐financing more effective in achieving inclusive financial development and thereby poverty reduction in rural areas.     

Effect of board gender diversity on the financial performance of microfinance institutions: Does judicial efficiency matter?

The impact of board gender diversity on the financial performance of firms is not known. This is because empirical investigations have yielded inconclusive outcomes. This study engages data from 408 microfinance institutions (MFIs) covering the period 2010–2018 from the six microfinance regions to investigate this impact using the Least Squares Dummy Variable (LSDV) and the System Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) estimation techniques. The study also explores whether judicial efficiency exerts any significant effect on the board gender diversity–financial performance nexus. The study observes that board gender diversity exhibits a strong negative effect on the financial performance of MFIs. The study also observes that the effect of board gender diversity on the financial performance of MFIs escalates in the presence of judicial inefficiency. The study, therefore, unveils the judicial system as a channel through which gender diversity drives the financial performance of MFIs negatively.     

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

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.     

Determinants of margin in microfinance institutions

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) lend to the poor. However, microfinance clients suffer from high interest rates, a type of poverty penalty. This article analyses the margin determinants in MFIs. A banking model has been adapted to microfinance. This model has been tested using 9-year panel data. Some factors explaining bank margin also explain MFI margin, with operating costs being the most important factor. Specific microfinance factors are donations and legal status, as regulated MFIs can collect deposits. It has also been found that MFIs operating in countries with a high level of financial inclusion have low margins.