Outreach and performance of microfinance institutions: the importance of portfolio yield

In this paper, we examine the interaction between social outreach and financial return in microfinance. Running multivariate regression models and using 1,805 observations of microfinance institutions between 2004 and 2013, we find strong evidence suggesting that institutions with more social engagement – in terms of outreach to the poor – earn higher portfolio yields. We also find that measures of outreach are associated with increased operating expenses. As return figures are influenced by both costs and yield, and because both increase to a similar degree with the depth of outreach, these two effects lead to a zero sum result on return measures. This finding could explain why existing studies assessing the interaction between social outreach and different measures of financial performance in microfinance (such as return on assets/equity, operating expenses, operational self-sufficiency) have not produced consistent results.     

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.     

The macroeconomy and microfinance outreach: a panel data analysis

This study examines the effects of macroeconomic and institutional factors on microfinance institution (MFI) outreach. To capture the performance of the macroeconomy, we include proxies for institutional quality, economic growth, FDI inflow, unemployment rate, inflation and the prevalence of wage-earning jobs. Further, we examine effects on outreach along the dimensions of outreach depth and outreach breadth. Using data on 1526 MFIs from 99 countries over the period 2000 to 2015, our results suggest that environments characterised by high levels of economic performance and good institutions tend to hinder outreach performance. These results suggest that MFIs depend on a poor economy to thrive given the informal nature of microfinance.     

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.     

Regional differences in the production processes of financial and social outputs of microfinance institutions

This study uses panel data of microfinance institutions across the world to compare production processes across regions, assess the relevance of unobserved heterogeneity and estimate economies of scale. Comparing a financial production process to a multidimensional production process that accounts for the presence of outreach in the objective function suggests that financial and social output reflect complements in South Asia but not in other regions. Furthermore, we find substantial economies of scale for a pure financial production process. However, accounting for outreach lowers estimated economies of scale, suggesting that producing outreach creates high transaction costs and requires exploitation of local knowledge.     

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.     

Empirical of the Taiwan stock index option price forecasting model – applied artificial neural network

This work presents a novel neural network model for forecasting option prices using past volatilities and other options market factors. Out of different approaches to estimating volatility in the option pricing model, this study uses backpropagation neural network to forecast prices for Taiwanese stock index options. The ability to develop accurate forecasts of grey prediction volatility enables practitioners to establish an appropriate hedging strategy at in-the-money option.     

Financial intermediation,inclusion, Fintech,and income inequality in Africa: Robust evidence from the supply and demand side data

The current literature on the finance-inequality nexus fall short of providing extensive evidence. This paper fills the gap by framing the financial sector; to the development of financial intermediation (supply side) and individual use of financial services (demand side). The first approach decouples the financial sector into the banking and stock market. We use the 5-year nonoverlapping averaged data from 1980 to 2017 across 49 countries and employ a panel data fixed effect and two-stage least squared estimation (2sls). We show that banking and stock market development widens income inequality. Besides, the effect is more prominent in countries that have a banking and stock market than countries only with the banking sector. The second approach uses financial inclusion and financial technology (Fintech) data from three waves of survey data in 2011, 2014 and 2017 on the individual use of financial services across 39 countries. We obtain three key findings. First, institutional quality significantly affects financial inclusion and Fintech. Second, Fintech positively affects inclusion and savings. Third, financial inclusion and Fintech exacerbate income inequality. Our result asserts a natural tendency that financial sector development exacerbate income inequality in Africa.     

Product diversification and bank risk: evidence from South Asian banking institutions

ABSTRACT

We investigate whether the product diversification activities of South Asian banking institutions have led to an increase or decrease in their solvency and profit risks. Using the data of five countries – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – for the period 2000–2016, we analyse the effect of both income and assets diversification activities on the Z-score and SDs of ROA (Return on Assets) and ROE Return on Equity). Among income diversification activities, securities trading income has a significant positive influence on bank risk while other categories have no influence. With respect to assets diversification, non-interest-bearing assets and loans given to government were found to have a significant positive influence on bank risk, while mortgage loans and non-classified loans have opposite influences. However, the impacts of securities trading income and loans given to the government are mainly confined to private sector banks and state-owned banks, respectively. We also uncover some country-specific diversification influences on the above relationships.     

Convergence of the performance of microfinance institutions: A decomposition analysis

In this paper, we focus on investigating whether and to what extent patterns of performance microfinance institutions converge over time. In particular, we analyze whether patterns of performance are related to changes in operating efficiency, capital deepening, and/or technological change for a large international sample of microfinance institutions for the period 2003–2012. We apply intertemporal Data Envelopment Analysis, a methodology that has been used extensively in the literature explaining patterns of economic growth, but has not been applied yet in microfinance research. We decompose performance changes into operating efficiency changes, changes in capital intensity and/or technological change and find that capital deepening is the most important source of improved performance, especially during the first half, while capital deepening and technological innovations are important during the second half of the period. We also find strong evidence for convergence of performance between microfinance institutions. These trends concur with important changes in microfinance, such as increased commercialization, competition with commercial banks, and involvement of private investors.     

Legal systems and performance of microfinance institutions

The paper investigates the impact of institutional environment resulting from the legal systems, on the financial performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs). Broadly categorized into common law and code law, the legal systems are found to significantly influence the efficiency of MFIs. We use an unbalanced panel of 1272 MFIs over a period of 16 years to analyze the effect of legal systems on their financial performance. In contrast to the accepted notion that common law systems are more conducive to effective market systems, our results show that MFIs operating under code law systems exhibit better financial performance than in common law systems.     

利率市场化对我国商业银行的挑战及应对策略

利率市场化是我国金融市场国际化非常重要的一步。利率市场化使中国银行业面临严峻考验。面对净利息收入减少、利率波动提高、银行竞争加剧、信用风险提高以及系统性风险加大,我国商业银行必须调整盈利结构,创新产品,拓宽利润增长点。     

Determinants of nonresident government debt ownership

We examine the determinants of nonresident government debt ownership, accounting for domestic and external factors and financial variables during the period 2000Q2–2014Q4, focussing on a small euro area open economy: Portugal. Our results show that better fiscal positions, higher systematic stress in Europe and higher shares of monetary and financial institutions (MFI) cross-border holdings of public debt, increase the share of nonresident held debt, and rising sovereign yields decrease that ratio.     

The Role of Banks in Shaping Income Inequality: A Within-Country Study

This paper investigates the role of banks in shaping income inequality. We extend the current literature on the banking–inequality nexus by examining a sample of 103 Italian provinces for the period 2000–2018. We find that a higher banking development decreases income inequality. From a methodological viewpoint, we aim to contribute to the current literature by both adjusting the index of income inequality for the presence of tax evasion in income data and applying different estimation approaches to control for endogeneity. Some policy implications emerge from the findings of this study.     

吉林省中小金融机构经营效率评价

效率是金融机构核心竞争力的重要内容。本文运用因子分析法,对吉林省境内各类中小金融机构和国有大银行的相关效率指标进行了对比分析,得出吉林省中小金融机构的经营效率普遍高于国有大银行的结论。同时发现,吉林省的中小金融机构面临的主要问题依然是如何降低不良贷款率、提高资产质量。本文最後提出了完善公司治理结构、健全内部控制制度和突出区域特色的业务定位三个方面,是改追吉林省中小金融机构的效率的有效措施。     

Trust,cultural norms and financial institutions in rural communities: the case of Cameroon

The success of the operations of formal and informal financial institutions (IFIs) hinges on a high degree of trust. The pivotal role of trust warrants careful analysis regarding its formation in these financial institutions. Using the case of Cameroon, the paper interrogates trust development between formal financial institutions and their clients, and between IFIs and their members. Trust formation occurs via certain cognitive trust-building processes: calculative, prediction, intentionality, capability, and transference processes. The paper argues that trust formation through these processes is predicated upon cultural values and beliefs. It is precisely because of cultural norms that traditional leaders play a role in ensuring that loans granted by formal financial institutions are repaid, thereby serving as principal actors in the functioning of financial capitalism in rural areas. The interplay between culture and financial institutions reconfigures the financial architecture in rural zones. Culture creates a social relational anthropology that is significant for how financial institutions operate.     

浅谈事业单位财务管理现状及优化建议

从事业单位基础工作、预算管理、资产运行、内部控制四个方面探讨了事业单位财务管理的现状,在此基础上,通过对上述几个方面的深入分析,提出了优化事业单位财务管理工作的建议。     

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。     

Factors of production,productivity, institutions,and development: Evidence from Brazil

The economic growth and development literature emphasizes that investment in technology and physical and human capital is essential for achieving higher levels of development. Political and economic institutions are also relevant in this process. With a sample of 5,503 Brazilian municipalities, this study carries out a development accounting exercise and measures the effects of institutional quality on per capita gross domestic product (GDP), physical capital intensity, human capital stock, and productivity. The empirical results indicate that institutional quality affects GDP per capita mainly through human capital accumulation and total factor productivity.     

Governing Poverty in a Neoliberal Age: New Labour and the Case of Financial Exclusion

In the UK, from the 1990s, the concept of financial exclusion emerged as a focus of policymaking concern. In part, this reflects the growing scale and complexity of personal finance markets and how these are increasingly interwoven into the everyday lives of individuals. However, it is also argued that the development of the concept of financial exclusion reflects preeminent neoliberal discourses that emphasise the centrality of individual responsibility, autonomy and consumer participation within markets. In 2004 the then Labour government, in conjunction with academic experts, financial institutions and other organisations, established a project of financial inclusion in relation to three key domains: banking, affordable credit and financial capability. The consequence, it is suggested here, has not been so much to alleviate inequality as to nurture the poor to be precautionary, risk averse financial subjects. This stands in contrast with the virtues of enterprise and risk-taking called up in middle-class investor subjects.