Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) are special financial institutions. They have both a social nature and a for-profit nature. Their performance has been traditionally measured by means of financial ratios. The paper uses a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to efficiency to show that ratio...

The growing relevance of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) has provoked the development of specialized MFI rating agencies that perform global risk assessments. In this paper we have conjectured different hypotheses pertaining to the relationship between financial indicators and the rating...

The purpose of this paper is to identify the theoretical basis of microcredit. Specific literature on the matter recognises the Ohio School, but a new approach, the Grameen Bank School, is also emerging. The ideas of these two schools of thought are reflected in two approaches that associate the...

It is broadly acknowledged that micro-credit origin is related to Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. However, there are early experiences in previous centuries that resemble micro-credit, both in developing and developed countries, Spain included. The paper revises those experiences, their similarities...