This paper empirically investigates the causes of bank failures in Japan and Indonesia. Using logistic regression analysis of financial ratios, we explore the usefulness of domestic bank failure prediction models with a cross-country model that allows for cross-correlation of the error terms.Our...

If the demand for credit by the poor changes little when interest rates increase, lenders can raise fees to cost-covering levels without losing customers. This claim is at the core of sustainable microfinance strategies that aim to provide banking services to the poor while eschewing long-term...

The current emphasis in the microfinance industry is a shift from donor-funded to commercially sustainable operations. This article evaluates the impact of access to microloans from the Khushhali Bank — Pakistan's first and largest microfinance bank which operates on commercial principles....

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are often seen by aid practitioners as a manifestly effective means of improving the position of the poor. Despite this widely held view, detailed research studies have been much more guarded about the impact of MFIs. In particular, several studies have raised...

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are often seen by aid practitioners as a manifestly effective means of improving the position of the poor. Despite this widely held view, detailed research studies have been much more guarded about the impact of MFIs. In particular, several studies have raised...

This study investigates the hypothesis that stricter capital adequacy requirements introduced under the Basel Accord caused Japanese banks to alter their portfolios away from heavily weighted risk assets such as loans and corporate bonds and into unweighted assets such as government bonds.Using...

This study examines the role of foreign banks in Latin America and Asia, focusing particularly on the effects of foreign banks on the stability of the financial sector.First, using data on the presence of foreign banks via branching as well as subsidiaries, the study shows that the presence of...

The introduction of stricter capital adequacy regulation in Japan under the Basel Accord is often blamed for brining on a “capital crunch”: a reduction in bank lending in response to stricter regulations on bank capital. The capital positions of Japanese banks have been under pressure from...

Microfinance, the provision of small size loans and other financial services to low income households, is often seen as the key innovation of the last 25 years in terms of means of reaching out to the poor and vulnerable. There is extensive experience in microfinance provision in both Asia and...