Microcredit: an answer to the gender problem in funding?

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) target people excluded from the traditional banking system. By providing start-up capital to these under-financed individuals, they enable a greater number of women to start their own business, particularly in sectors where initial capital requirements are high. Our study follows a portfolio of 3,640 microcredit applicants in France over the 2000–2006 time period, identifying MFI client profiles and bringing to light gender differences in borrowers compared to a wider sample of entrepreneurs. This study shows that the male–female gap found amongst company creators is also maintained amongst the clienteles of MFIs. Empirical results also suggest that gender is a decisive factor regarding the amount of credit provided to borrowers when comparing with other factors in the borrower and firm profile. Thus to a certain extent, MFIs are found to reinforce gender inequalities in France.     

Microfinance Performance and Social Capital: A Cross-Country Analysis

In recent years, the microfinance industry has received a substantial amount of cross-border funding from both public and private sources. This funding reflects the increasing interest in microfinance as part of a more general trend towards socially responsible investments. In order to be able to secure sustained interest from these investors, it is important that the microfinance industry can show evidence of its contribution to reducing poverty at the bottom of the pyramid. For this, it is crucial to understand under what conditions microfinance institutions (MFIs) are able to reduce poverty. This paper contributes to this discussion by investigating the relationship between the extent to which social capital formation is facilitated within different societies and the financial and social performance of MFIs. This focus on social capital formation is important, because in many cases MFIs use group loans with joint liability to incentivize asset-poor borrowers to substitute the lack of physical collateral by their social capital. Hence, the success of a large part of the loan relationship between MFIs and their borrowers depends on the social capital those borrowers can bring into the contract. We carry out a cross-country analysis on a dataset containing 100 countries and identify different social dimensions as proxies for how easy social capital can be developed in different countries. We hypothesize that microfinance is more successful, both in terms of their financial and social aims, in societies that are more conducive to the development of social capital. Our empirical results support our hypothesis.     

Institutionalizing Ethics in Institutional Voids: Building Positive Ethical Strength to Serve Women Microfinance Borrowers in Negative Contexts

This study examines whether microfinance institutions (MFIs) that serve women borrowers at the base of the economic pyramid are likely to adopt a written code of positive organizational ethics (POE). Using econometric analysis of operational and economic data of a sample of MFIs from across the world, we find that two contextual factors—poverty level and lack of women’s empowerment—moderate the influence of an MFI’s percentage of women borrowers on the probability of the MFI having a POE code. MFIs that serve more women borrowers are more likely to adopt a POE code, especially in negative contexts (where women borrowers face poverty and disempowerment and are therefore susceptible to abuse). This study provides evidence that MFIs can build positive ethical strength in negative contexts.     

The challenges of supporting necessity entrepreneurs: Understanding loan officer exit in microfinance

Necessity entrepreneurship can serve as a pathway out of poverty for low-income individuals, with microfinance often providing important financial support. Yet the relational lending strategies common among microfinance institutions may influence loan officer turnover and, in turn, compromise entrepreneurs' access to credit. While there is some reason to suspect that relational lending with poor entrepreneurs will increase retention, we propose that serving the poor may make loan officers more likely to quit: loan officers in commercial microfinance institutions are unlikely to have strong commitments to poverty alleviation and may be taxed by the challenging fieldwork associated with lending in poor areas. Qualitative and quantitative data from a microfinance bank in Latin America support our expectations, showing that exit becomes more likely when loan officers' work involves more poor clients and that the effect is strongest when such work demands intensive fieldwork in low-income areas. Supplementary analyses of trends across the global microfinance industry demonstrate that poor clients have a stronger impact on exit in for-profits than non-profits, suggesting that prosocial motives among non-profit employees may have a buffering effect. Overall, our study reveals how providing services to necessity entrepreneurs can have negative, unexpected consequences for frontline employees.     

Credit risk in Islamic microfinance institutions: The role of women,groups, and rural borrowers

Using international data, we find that Islamic MFIs experience reduced credit risk by offering more groups loans, serving more women, and serving more borrowers in rural locations. Conventional MFIs benefit from fewer group loans, less loans to rural borrowers, and a greater focus on female borrowers. Our results contribute to microfinance and financial inclusion literature by highlighting the potential of tapping into the social dynamics within Muslim communities. We present encouraging insights for Islamic MFIs donors and managers on the possibility of promoting the financial inclusion of women and rural borrowers without compromising the quality of the credit portfolio.     

Incentives for Loan Repayments: Evidence from a Randomized Field Study

This field experiment tests an innovative approach for helping automobile loan borrowers make their loan payments on time. Borrowers were randomly assigned to a loan with an interest rate reduction after three on‐time payments; borrowers assigned to this loan show fewer late payments compared to a control group. While the financial incentive of the interest rate reduction was small, the offer of a rate reduction appears to result in borrowers attending to due dates. This result illustrates that lenders can use simple mechanisms to encourage more positive repayment patterns among borrowers with a history of late payments.     

Foreign direct investment via M&A and domestic entrepreneurship: blessing or curse?

There are conflicting predictions in the literature about the relationship between FDI and entrepreneurship. This paper explores how foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, measured by lagged cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A), affect entrepreneurial entry in the host economy. We have constructed a micro-panel of more than two thousand individuals in each of seventy countries, 2000–2009, linked to FDI by matching sectors. We find the relationship between FDI inflows and domestic entrepreneurship to be negative across all economies. This negative effect is much more pronounced in developed than developing economies and is also identified within industries, notably in manufacturing. Policies to encourage FDI via M&A need to consider how to counteract the prevailing adverse effect on domestic entrepreneurship.     

Co-creation of value at the bottom of the pyramid: Analysing Bangladeshi farmers' use of mobile telephony

Existing literature offers scant evidence of how BoP (bottom of the pyramid) consumers with limited product knowledge and interaction with product designers and marketers can co-create value. The current paper addresses this issue by analysing Bangladeshi farmers' use of mobile telephony. The findings suggest the value-in-use is facilitated or inhibited by product features, socio-economic practices, individuals' capabilities and the appropriation of mobile telephony. The paper demonstrates how BoP customers can co-create value with or without direct support from marketers and offers a theoretical framework for the co-creation of value and contributes to the current understanding of BoP market dynamics.     

Microfinance,the long tail and mission drift

Poor people were excluded from financial services until microfinance institutions (MFIs) emerged. The mission of MFIs is to alleviate poverty, contributing to women empowerment, especially in rural communities. Microcredits can be analyzed under Pareto's 80/20 Principle. Their clients are situated in the long tail of the wealth distribution function. This niche market is not very attractive, because of its high administrative costs, lack of deposits and the need for compensating low revenues with fluctuating subsidies. Some MFIs have drifted from their mission. This paper presents a model to explain microfinance mission drift, tested with hypotheses. The results from the empirical study show a pattern of mission centered MFI: a small NGO, with labor productivity, receiving donations and obtaining a high yield. It can be concluded that there is a need for reducing interest rates. According to the long tail theory, this could be done by using efficient technology, as it has been achieved in the e-commerce sector.     

Corporate environmental responsibility and bank loans

Drawing on both qualitative analyses of banks' sustainability reports and quantitative analyses of 11,538 bank loans from 1993 to 2018, we explore interactions between corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and bank loan contracting. We find CER dominates how corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects bank loans. We propose a two-way relationship between CER and bank loans. Firms with strong CER performance receive cheaper bank loans due to banks' environmental risk management efforts. These banks provide services to corporate borrowers that have a positive influence on borrowers' ongoing environmental performance.     

Loan guarantees: Costs of default and benefits to small firms

Governments of most countries seek to encourage Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) growth and the job creation that many believe is fostered by such growth. Substantive growth usually requires expansion capital. It is often perceived that compared with larger firms, SMEs face disproportionately less access to the debt capital they need for start-up, growth, and survival. Consequently, governments and trade associations have often intervened in credit markets by taking on the role of guarantor of loans that financial institutions advance to SMEs. For example, the Small Business Administration in the United States provides guarantees of loans made by banks to qualifying small firms. Similar schemes are in effect in, among other countries, Canada, Japan, the U.K., Korea, and Germany. Trade associations take on such roles in France, Spain, and other nations.Loans that support the expansion of small enterprises may convey significant benefits to the borrowing firms and, through job creation and retention, to the rest of society. However, to the extent that some borrowers are unable to meet the repayment obligations of their debt, guarantors also face material real costs of honoring their guarantee to the lenders. Loan guarantee programs are designed in a variety of ways. Often these programs do not appear to reflect guidance from economic theory or experience. This paper draws on empirical evidence to compare costs with benefits. In addition, it uses the results and economic theory to provide some guidance for the design of loan guarantee programs. Finally, the study shows that loan guarantee programs can be an effective means of supporting start-up, growth, and survival of new and risky enterprises. The work finds that substantial total and incremental job creation may be attributed to the Canadian loan guarantee program.The paper reviews previous attempts to conduct cost-benefit analyses of loan guarantee programs. It finds wide variation, internationally, in default rates. Published data suggests default rates vary from less than 5% (Germany) to more than 40% (U.K.). The empirical analysis reported here focuses on the Canadian implementation of loan guarantees, the Small Business Loans Act (SBLA). Findings include (1) loan guarantees granted under the terms of the SBLA provide an extremely efficient means of job creation, with very low estimated costs per job; (2) default rates are higher for newer firms, increase with the amount of funds borrowed, and vary widely by sector (borrowers in the retail and accommodation, and food and beverage sectors were significantly more likely to default than borrowers in other sectors); and (3) the widening eligibility to larger firms and to larger loans may not be well advised and is inconsistent with the goals of the program. Moreover, reducing the loan ceiling would arguably discourage fraudulent applications while servicing those SMEs most in need of early-stage capital.In addition, analysis of the lenders' motives suggests that default rates on the portfolio of guaranteed loans and, therefore, the costs of honoring guarantees, are particularly sensitive to the level of the guarantee. Small reductions in the level of the guarantee (for example, guaranteeing 80% of principal and accrued interest instead of 85%) could lead to substantial reductions in default rates.Debate persists in economic theory about whether or not government intervention in the credit market is warranted, in spite of the findings that loan guarantees seem to make positive contributions. Further analysis of these issues is advised.     

State intervention and the microcredit market: the role of business development services

We analyze in this paper how various forms of state intervention can impact microfinance institutions’ lending behavior. Using a simple model where entrepreneurs receive individual uncollateralized loans, we show that, not surprisingly, state intervention through the loan guarantee increases the number of entrepreneurs receiving a loan. However, after modeling business development services (BDS) provided by the microfinance institution, we show that the loan guarantee can have a counterproductive effect by reducing the number of entrepreneurs benefiting from such services. We therefore analyze an alternative policy: BDS subsidization. We show that if BDS are efficient enough and are targeted toward less performing borrowers, then—for fixed government expenditures—such subsidies do better in terms of financial inclusion than the loan guarantee. Moreover, we argue that—under similar conditions—BDS subsidization alone does better in terms of financial inclusion than a mix of policies.     

Strategies,technologies, and organizational learning for developing organizational innovativeness in emerging economies

Innovativeness is an important organizational capability for competitive advantage sustainability in the dynamic environment of Asia's emerging economies. Drawing upon dynamic capability theory, this study develops a research model of organizational innovativeness development for firms in emerging economies. The proactive strategic orientations reflected by entrepreneurship and technology oriented strategy provide important visions for organizational innovativeness. Further, the utilization of knowledge management systems and organizational learning are identified as intervention processes that translate these strategic orientations into real innovation capability. A survey involving 114 firms operating in China was conducted for hypothesis testing. The empirical results provide strong support and advance the knowledge of organizational innovativeness development for firms in Asia's emerging economies.     

A Theory of Discouraged Borrowers

This paper examines the implications for the SME financing market of Application costs that vary between firms, and of imperfect screening of applicants by Banks. Under these conditions 'Discouraged Borrowers' can exist. These are good borrowers who do not apply for a bank loan because they feel they will be rejected. The paper shows that, under a range of assumptions, the scale of discouragement in an economy depends upon the screening error of the banks, the scale of Application costs and the extent to which the bank interest rate differs from that charged by the moneylender. Discouragement is shown to be at a maximum where there is some, but not perfect, information.     

A comparison of FDI determinants in China and India

This study explores foreign direct investment (FDI) determinants in China and India and fills the gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive empirical comparison analysis. Two panel data sets and two statistical models are employed to identify the determinants of FDI inflows from home countries worldwide to the two host countries by considering both home and host countries' characteristics. The empirical results show some interesting similarities and differences between the two countries. Market growth, imports, labor costs, and country political risk/policy liberalization are the determinants for both countries. However, exports, market size, and borrowing costs are important to China's FDI, while geographical and cultural distance factors are important to India's FDI. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Does Bank Consolidation Hurt the Small Business Borrower?

The recent wave of mergers in the commercial banking sector in the United States has led to tremendous industry consolidation. Some fear that such consolidation will leave the small business borrower with fewer opportunities to obtain bank credit. This study uses regression analysis to empirically determine if consolidation has caused larger banks to abandon relationship loans extended to small businesses over time. If so, this leaves small business borrowers with two distinctly different choices, a low interest rate loan from a large bank for those small business borrowers who qualify or a high interest rate loan from a small bank for those who do not. The results of this study support this theory, and find consolidation has raised small business loan rates at small banks and lowered rates at large banks, ceteris paribus.     

Consumer Credit Risk and Pricing

Previous academic studies viewed borrower rejection as a sign of market imperfections in the consumer credit markets, but this view was based upon the assumption that differences in the levels of borrower creditworthiness could not be accurately identified. Today, it is possible to differentiate between types of borrowers, and riskier borrowers can participate in credit markets if they are willing to pay relatively higher borrowing costs. Hence, a more critical issue concerning the performance of these markets should be whether loan prices correctly reflect the level of borrower credit risk. This paper reexamines consumer participation in credit markets looking specifically at issues related to the pricing of borrowers of different credit risk.     

Coercion in the selling of credit life insurance

Credit life insurance, which repays some or all of a borrower's outstanding debt in the event of death, has been a controversial subject for many years. Critics assert that, despite regulations that limit tied sales, pressure on loan officers to generate fee income through cross selling creates an incentive for coercion of borrowers. Allegedly, some sales techniques leave the consumer with the false impression that the purchase of credit insurance was necessary to obtain the loan. This article measures the frequency with which creditor efforts to sell credit insurance transform the sales message from persuasive to coercive. A methodology is developed for measuring the impact of coercive selling pressure applied to borrowers at the point of sale. Data used to measure the effect of coercive pressure are taken from an extensive survey of borrowers conducted during 1993. Not only are public policy concerns about coercion in the selling of credit insurance addressed, but more generally the article offers a methodology to quantify the influence of the customer's point-of-sale experience on the decision to purchase any financial service. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Benchmarking the financial performance,growth, and outreach of greenfield MFIs in Africa

We use regressions to benchmark African greenfield microfinance institutions (MFIs) relative to other African microfinance providers and find that greenfields grew faster, improved profitability to levels comparable to the top MFIs, and substantially increased their lending to women. Effects were strongest for greenfields that followed a consultant-led model to establish a deep retail banking presence spanning multiple countries, including the creation of extensive branch networks. Though their loan sizes are larger than most African MFIs, indicating less outreach to the poorest market segments, they have achieved rapid gains in financial inclusion on a broad scale for somewhat more affluent clients.     

Host market characteristics,FDI, and the FDI – trade relationship

This paper empirically examines how a host nation's market characteristics, particularly its market maturity and role as an export platform, affect the amount of inward FDI it receives and its FDI?–?bilateral trade relationship with the FDI source. For the period 1989?–?1999, using Japanese outward FDI into 85 geographically and developmentally diverse countries, we find a positive and significant relationship between FDI inflows and the host's market maturity levels. However, the FDI?–?trade interaction between the host and the FDI source appears to vary inversely with the host country's market maturity level. In addition, after controlling for the host's market maturity, we find that the nature of the host's ‘export platform’ status also significantly impacts both inward FDI flows and the FDI?–?trade relationship.