This chapter focuses on the literature that discusses the performance of microfinance
institutions (MFIs). It provides a systematic overview of research that analyses the …

Microfinance has played a key role in the fight against exclusion and the promotion of
entrepreneurship in developing countries. An important question today is how to increase …

Recent evidence suggests only modest social and economic impacts of microfinance.
Favorable cost-benefit ratios then depend on low costs. This paper calculates the costs of …

Social enterprises in the microfinance industry need to adhere to both financial and social
demands. Critics argue that there is a mission drift away from the social mission, and this …

Financial inclusion is said to foster development and growth. However, progress in financial
inclusion has been slow in rural areas where poverty is most pronounced. This is often …

This paper examines the relation between geographic diversification and credit risk in
microfinance. The empirical findings from the banking industry are mixed and inconclusive …

Recent research suggests that many microfinance institutions increasingly focus on financial
performance at the expense of the social component of their dual objectives. Existing studies …

This paper investigates how competition affects the double-bottom-line performance of
microfinance institutions (MFIs). While classical economic theory highlights that competition …

In recent years, international banks, investment agencies, and development institutions have
created new markets for capital accumulation by rapidly expanding the commercial …

Much of the microfinance rhetoric revolves around fighting female poverty, which is often the
result of discriminatory gender norms. Also, the microfinance industry has always been …