[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ukc/ukcedp/1603.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is there a mission drift in microfinance? Some new empirical evidence from Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Francis Awuku Darko
Abstract
This paper considers the possibility of mission drift in microfinance; a situation where Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) move away from targeting the poor and towards better-off clients. Using two different measures of poverty, the paper examines whether microfinance institutions in Uganda follow a developmental objective by expanding their access to poorer districts; and if the pattern observed varies across different types of MFIs. The analysis is conducted on 118 MFIs over the period 2009-2013; adopting a static count data model and dynamic regression approach. We find that MFIs in Uganda are more likely to target richer districts during earlier years; however, poorer districts tend to catch up over time. This finding suggests that MFIs may wish to signal an improved financial performance by first establishing branches in better-off districts and then only later reaching out to poorer districts, employing cross-subsidisation. We also show that Commercial Bank MFIs are more likely to increase their presence in poorer districts than other types of MFIs, suggesting that protection against regulation and greater access to capital markets may make commercial MFIs the most qualified institutions to expand outreach to the unbanked segment of the world’s poorer population.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis Awuku Darko, 2016. "Is there a mission drift in microfinance? Some new empirical evidence from Uganda," Studies in Economics 1603, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    • Handle: RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:1603
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.kent.ac.uk/economics/repec/1603.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrea F. Presbitero & Roberta Rabellotti, 2014. "Geographical Distance And Moral Hazard In Microcredit: Evidence From Colombia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 91-108, January.
    2. Hudon, Marek & Périlleux, Anaïs, 2014. "Surplus distribution and characteristics of social enterprises: Evidence from microfinance," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 147-157.
    3. Chandra R. Bhat & Rajesh Paleti & Palvinder Singh, 2014. "A Spatial Multivariate Count Model For Firm Location Decisions," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 462-502, June.
    4. Munyambonera, Ezra & Nampewo, Dorothy & Adong, Annet & Lwanga, Musa, 2012. "Access and Use of Credit in Uganda: Unlocking the Dilemma of Financing Small Holder Farmers," Policy Briefs 150229, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    5. Josep‐Maria Arauzo‐Carod & Daniel Liviano‐Solis & Miguel Manjón‐Antolín, 2010. "Empirical Studies In Industrial Location: An Assessment Of Their Methods And Results," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 685-711, August.
    6. Sougata Ray & Sushanta Mahapatra, 2016. "Penetration of MFIs among Indian states: an understanding through macro variables," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(3), pages 294-305, September.
    7. Julian Caballero, 2012. "Banking Crises and Financial Integration," Research Department Publications 4816, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    8. Mersland, Roy & Strøm, R. Øystein, 2010. "Microfinance Mission Drift?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 28-36, January.
    9. Annabel Vanroose & Bert D’Espallier, 2013. "Do microfinance institutions accomplish their mission? Evidence from the relationship between traditional financial sector development and microfinance institutions’ outreach and performance," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(15), pages 1965-1982, May.
    10. Marguerite S. Robinson, 2001. "The Microfinance Revolution," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28956.
    11. Beatriz Armendáriz & Ariane Szafarz, 2011. "On Mission Drift in Microfinance Institutions," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Beatriz Armendáriz & Marc Labie (ed.), The Handbook Of Microfinance, chapter 16, pages 341-366, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    12. Barros, Pedro Pita, 1995. "Post-entry expansion in banking: The case of Portugal," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 593-611, December.
    13. Robin Burgess & Rohini Pande, 2005. "Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 780-795, June.
    14. Robert Cull & Asli Demirguç-Kunt & Jonathan Morduch, 2007. "Financial performance and outreach: a global analysis of leading microbanks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(517), pages 107-133, February.
    15. Annabel Vanroose, 2014. "Factors that explain the regional expansion of microfinance institutions in Peru," Working Papers CEB 14-030, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Gourieroux, Christian & Monfort, Alain & Trognon, Alain, 1984. "Pseudo Maximum Likelihood Methods: Theory," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 681-700, May.
    17. D'Espallier, Bert & Guérin, Isabelle & Mersland, Roy, 2011. "Women and Repayment in Microfinance: A Global Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 758-772, May.
    18. Gourieroux, Christian & Monfort, Alain & Trognon, Alain, 1984. "Pseudo Maximum Likelihood Methods: Applications to Poisson Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 701-720, May.
    19. Kevane, Michael & Wydick, Bruce, 2001. "Microenterprise Lending to Female Entrepreneurs: Sacrificing Economic Growth for Poverty Alleviation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1225-1236, July.
    20. Marcella Corsi & Fabrizio Botti & Tommaso Rondinella & Giulia Zacchia, 2006. "Women and Microfinance in Mediterranean Countries," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 49(2), pages 67-74, June.
    21. Jose Pedrosa & Quy-Toan Do, 2011. "Geographic Distance and Credit Market Access in Niger," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 23(3), pages 289-299.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brière, Marie & Szafarz, Ariane, 2015. "Does Commercial Microfinance Belong to the Financial Sector? Lessons from the Stock Market," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 110-125.
    2. Patrick Reichert, 2018. "A meta-analysis examining the nature of trade-offs in microfinance," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 430-452, July.
    3. repec:luc:wpaper:18-04 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Mira Nurmakhanova & Gavin Kretzschmar & Hassouna Fedhila, 2015. "Trade-off between financial sustainability and outreach of microfinance institutions," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 231-250, December.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14039 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. D’Espallier, Bert & Hudon, Marek & Szafarz, Ariane, 2013. "Unsubsidized microfinance institutions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 174-176.
    7. Jacinta C. Nwachukwu & Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "The Determinants of Interest Rates in Microbanks: Age and Scale," Research Africa Network Working Papers 15/004, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    8. Widiarto, Indra & Emrouznejad, Ali, 2015. "Social and financial efficiency of Islamic microfinance institutions: A Data Envelopment Analysis application," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-17.
    9. Hailu Abebe Wondirad, 2020. "Competition and microfinance institutions’ performance: evidence from India," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Bos, Jaap W.B. & Millone, Matteo, 2015. "Practice What You Preach: Microfinance Business Models and Operational Efficiency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 28-42.
    11. Md Aslam Mia & Lucia Dalla Pellegrina & Patrick Damme & Mahinda Wijesiri, 2019. "Financial Inclusion, Deepening and Efficiency in Microfinance Programs: Evidence from Bangladesh," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(4), pages 809-835, September.
    12. Yimga, Jules, 2018. "Microfinance expansion and its effects on cost efficiency," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 205-216.
    13. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Röhe, Michaela & Renier, Noémie, 2017. "The access of microfinance institutions to debt capital: An empirical investigation of microfinance investment vehicles," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-15.
    14. Sagamba, MoÏse & Shchetinin, Oleg & Yusupov, Nurmukhammad, 2013. "Do Microloan Officers Want to Lend to the Less Advantaged? Evidence from a Choice Experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 182-198.
    15. Mahinda Wijesiri & Almudena Martínez-Campillo & Peter Wanke, 2019. "Is there a trade-off between social and financial performance of public commercial banks in India? A multi-activity DEA model with shared inputs and undesirable outputs," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 417-442, April.
    16. A. Blanco-Oliver & A. Irimia-Diéguez, 2021. "Impact of outreach on financial performance of microfinance institutions: a moderated mediation model of productivity, loan portfolio quality, and profit status," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 633-668, April.
    17. Marek Hudon & Marc Labie & Patrick Reichert, 2020. "What is a Fair Level of Profit for Social Enterprise? Insights from Microfinance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 627-644, March.
    18. Boehe, Dirk Michael & Barin Cruz, Luciano, 2013. "Gender and Microfinance Performance: Why Does the Institutional Context Matter?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 121-135.
    19. Tristan Caballero-Montes, 2023. "Integrating market conditions into regulatory decisions on microfinance interest rates: does competition matter?," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 201-232, June.
    20. Hailu Abebe Wondirad, 2022. "Interest rates in microfinance: What is a fair interest rate when we lend to the poor?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 4537-4548, December.
    21. D’Espallier, Bert & Goedecke, Jann & Hudon, Marek & Mersland, Roy, 2017. "From NGOs to Banks: Does Institutional Transformation Alter the Business Model of Microfinance Institutions?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 19-33.
    22. Hudon, Marek & Périlleux, Anaïs, 2014. "Surplus distribution and characteristics of social enterprises: Evidence from microfinance," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 147-157.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    microfinance; poverty; mission drift; count data model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:1603. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr Anirban Mitra (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.kent.ac.uk/economics/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.