This article examines the impact of microfinance ‘plus' (i.e. coordinated combination of financial and nonfinancial services) on the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs). Using a global data set of MFIs in 77 countries, we find that the provision of nonfinancial services does not...

This paper studies recent research efforts in the field of microfinance. Two questions guide the study: What is the agenda of recent research efforts? And, for who is the research relevant? As for the agenda the quot;yin and yangquot; of microfinance; impact and sustainability, continue to...

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) provide financial services to the poor and resemble banks and non-profits. Many target women because more women than men are poor, especially in rural areas. Studies show that women manage money differently from men and have different leadership styles. In credit...

This article reports from a church-based savings and credit group's project called Tuinuane, in Kenya. The project builds upon the Worth programme of PACT, but has added some interesting and innovative features allowing country-wide outreach. First, it utilizes a church institution; second, it...

In countries with weak institutions board governance becomes more important. This study uses a unique dataset from listed Sub-Saharan African companies to examine the relationship between ownership composition and board compensation. It further analyses the association between board compensation...

Using data from 319 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 68 developing countries, we study the degree to which international debt investments are related to the financial and social performances of MFIs. We find that commercial investments are mainly related to financial performance and level of...

This study responds to the need for more empirical knowledge pertaining to the effect of religion on development efforts. We find that Christian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have significantly lower funding costs and consistently underperform in terms of financial profit indicators. Contrary...

We evaluate the efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs) using a structural approach which also captures these institutions' outreach and sustainability objectives. We estimate economies of scale and input price elasticities for lending-only and deposit-mobilizing MFIs using a large sample...

We extend a recently developed generalized local polynomial estimator into a semiparametric smooth coefficient framework to estimate a generalized cost function. The advantage of the generalized local polynomial approach is that we can simultaneously choose the degree of polynomial for each...

This paper studies the relationship between a microfinance institution (MFI) and its loan officers when officers discriminate against a particular group of micro-entrepreneurs. Using survey data from Uganda, we provide evidence that loan officers are more biased than other employees against...