Microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean: the curse and blessing of ethnic diversity

ABSTRACT

Latin America is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the world, and is also characterized by high levels of poverty. As a poverty alleviation tool, microfinance emerged in the region and has significantly evolved over the years. However, the implications of the region’s high diversity on the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) are however not known. We attempt to fill this gap by providing evidence on the association between MFI performance and indices of ethnic and linguistic fractionalization. Our findings suggest that fractionalization promotes MFI financial performance but is detrimental to outreach depth. These results are robust to various sensitivity tests.     

公司治理对小额贷款公司绩效影响的实证研究

文章依据公司治理理论,采用安徽省150家小额贷款公司2010-2012年的调查数据,应用面板数据模型随机效应估计方法,实证分析公司治理对小额贷款公司绩效的影响。实证结果显示,公司治理对小额贷款公司的财务可持续性影响较大,独立董事比例、女性董事、外部审计等与财务可持续性呈显著正相关,董事会规模也具有显著正向的影响。此外,公司治理对覆盖力的影响相对较小,只有公司规模和CEO/董事会主席的二元性两个因素对其有显著影响。     

Female leadership,performance, and governance in microfinance institutions

This paper investigates the relations between female leadership, firm performance, and corporate governance in a global panel of 329 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in 73 countries covering the years 1998–2008. The microfinance industry is particularly suited for studying the impact of female leadership on governance and performance because of its mission orientation, its entrepreneurial nature, diverse institutional conditions, and high percentage of female leaders. We find female leadership to be significantly associated with larger boards, younger firms, a non-commercial legal status, and more female clientele. Furthermore, we find that a female chief executive officer and a female chairman of the board are positively related to MFI performance, but this result is not driven by improved governance.     

小额贷款公司面临的法律问题及其对策

小额贷款公司试点工作面临不少法律风险和问题，尤其是关于其经营资格、地位、资金结构以及税收等方面的法律问题已成为小额贷款公司持续发展的严重障碍。鉴于此，有必要通过制订《小额信贷法》，全面规范小额贷款公司的经营与监管；通过制度创新扩大小额贷款公司的资金来源渠道；完善现有税法，提高小额贷款公司的资产收益；实施政府规制和行业自律相结合的管理模式等措施，推动“只贷不存”的小额贷款公司向“贷存兼营”的乡村银行转变，以保障其持续发展。     

微型金融机构(MFIs)发展的文献综述

微型金融机构(MFIs)在迅猛发展的同时也引发了争议:MFIs是否产生了良好的社会影响,特别是对赤贫的人而言;追求可持续性的商业化演进,是否会导致MFIs脱离社会扶贫的初衷;更进一步,从保障MFIs社会扶贫功能的角度,该如何进行制度和机制的建设。     

Borrower Targeting under Microfinance Competition with Motivated Microfinance Institutions and Strategic Complementarity

We examine how increased competition among motivated microfinance institutions (MFIs) impacts the poorest borrowers' access to microfinance. We find that competition depends on inequality, technology, and the possibility of double‐dipping (borrowing from several sources). Without competition, even a motivated MFI may lend to the not‐so‐poor in preference to poor borrowers. If double‐dipping is feasible, competition may encourage lending to the poor. The presence of double‐dipping is critical for MFI competition to have a positive effect. When double‐dipping is feasible, MFI coordination may worsen borrower targeting whenever inequality is intermediate. We discuss policy implications dealing with double‐dipping, MFI coordination, and competition.     

微型金融机构使命偏移研究

文章针对微型金融机构在商业化进程中出现的“使命偏移”现象,以及由此引发的关于商业化和减贫目标如何实现双赢的争论,试图回答使命偏移产生的原因；使命偏移判断的标准.运用扩展的信贷配给模型阐释交易费用在使命偏移现象中的作用,然后对世界其他地区以及中国云南的使命偏移现象进行分析,说明仅用平均贷款规模来判断使命偏移是不够的,还需要其他信息,最主要的是微型金融机构是否触及最贫困人口.     

微型金融机构双重目标的冲突与治理:研究进展述评

微型金融机构要同时实现财务可持续(财务目标)与减缓贫困(社会目标)两大目标,然而,这两个目标间的冲突问题却长期困扰着其发展。本文系统整理了国内外有关微型金融机构双重目标冲突与治理领域的理论与实证文献,研究发现对微型金融机构双重目标是否冲突在理论和实证研究中均存在争议。伴随着微型金融商业化,目标偏离已成为双重目标冲突的新表现,但通过实施社会绩效管理,微型金融机构可以有效地降低双重目标间的冲突。虽然我国农村金融机构双重目标冲突问题已经显现,但相关研究并不多。因此,我国未来的研究应该集中在界定农村金融机构双重目标含义、构建评估体系、制定报告标准、探索双重目标约束下的可持续发展机制等方面。     

Loan officer gender and loan repayment performance. Evidence from greenfield microfinance institutions in Cameroon1

We explore whether loan officer gender affects loan repayment performance in Cameroonian microfinance institutions (MFIs). After controlling for demand-side factors (borrower characteristics), lending methodology, loan contract terms, year, and industry fixed effects, we apply a pooled probit model to a unique loan-level dataset including more than 7000 loans approved between 2007 and 2012 by two Cameroonian commercial MFIs. We find that loans granted and monitored by male loan officers perform better than those granted by female officers and that loans approved under joint liability contracts and monitored by male loan officers are less likely to fall into arrears. Our findings also show that the performance advantage of male loan officers over female officers is confirmed only during bad times. Compared to female loan officers, male loan officers seem to intensify their monitoring efforts during a crisis period. The results are robust after controlling for selection bias and are less sensitive to a change in the loan repayment performance measurement.