Using firm-level surveys for up to 73 countries, this paper explores the impact of introducing collateral registries … introduced collateral registries for movable assets against three control groups: firms in all countries that did not introduce a … for movable assets, and firms in countries that undertook other types of collateral reforms but did not set up registries …

Microfinance contracts have proven able to secure high rates of loan repayment in the face of limited liability and …, though, is at the heart of the promise that microfinance can deliver poverty reduction while not relying on ongoing subsidy …

This paper describes a new index of the quality of the business environment for microfinance institutions (the Global … Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment). Regressions are used to validate the index by linking it and its … subcomponents to microfinance outcomes. The main findings are that the components of the index related to the supporting …

This paper describes important trade-offs that microfinance practitioners, donors, and regulators navigate. Drawing … evidence from large, global surveys of microfinance institutions, the authors find a basic tension between meeting social goals … and maximizing financial performance. For example, non-profit microfinance institutions make far smaller loans on average …