An Integrated FCEM-AHP Approach for Borrower’s Satisfaction and Perception Analysis of Microfinance Institution

Themain objective of this paper is to present an integrated approach to evaluate the level of satisfaction of borrowers with the products and services of microfinance institutions(MFI)at different criterion levels.For this,the study adopts the concept of FCEM(Fuzzy Comprehensive EvaluationMethod)in concurrence with the AHP(Analytical Hierarchy Process).In our day-to-day situation,the researchers have made many efforts to assess the impact of Microfinance on poverty reduction,but borrowers’satisfaction is always overlooked.Since the multiple factors impact the borrower’s satisfaction,each factor is made of different items.Thus,as the factors items increase,many uncertainties are created,and hence this will make the decisionmaking unsmooth or imprecise.To describe this,the FCEM method deals with the vagueness in the collection information phase.However,the AHP has been utilized to determine the objective weights of each factor.The presented integrated framework has been illustrated with a case study and presented their results.The study’s managerial benefit is also reported to address the situation.

The Determinants of the Performance and the Sustainability of Conventional and Islamic Microfinance Institutions

The purpose of this paper is to study the factors determining the performance （organizational, social, and financial） of conventional and Islamic microfinance institutions and their impact on maintaining the sustainability of these institutions. A panel data on a sample of 333 conventional and 49 Islamic microfinance institutions （MFIs） between 1996 and 2012 of six different regions is used for this purpose and analyzes using the simple linear regression technique. The results show that the sustainability measered by operational autonomy （OSS） of Islamic MFIs （IMFIs） is sensitive to their social performance （SP）, while the sustainability of Conventional MFIs （CMFIs） is sustained by their Financial Performance （FP） measured by return on assets （ROA）. Thus, these latter seem to deviate from the main social objective focusing more on profitability. Indeed, this judgement is confirmed when the results also showed that their （CMFIs） FP is positively affected by the quality of credit portfolios which reveals the category of the targeted clients （the poorest of the poor are abandoned）. On the contrary, FP of IMFIs seems to be mainly supported by their specific source of funding through the islamic financial contracts where the results revealed that their profitabilty is positively affected by their capital structure. Moreover, the results show that the organizational performance positively affects the sustainability of the two categories of MFIs.

Research on the Model of Household Credit Risk Evaluation of Rural Microfinance

Since rural microfinance is a credit which grants loans without collateral and guarantees to farmers,it is considerably important to evaluate and control the household credit risk.Through establishing the evaluation index system and then using catastrophe progression theory,three common types of catastrophe system and the normalization formula,we get the comprehensive evaluation.Finally,we take the empirical test and the result shows that this method is simpler and more objective which can be used by the credit cooperatives to decide whether to authorize the loans.

Does microfinance foster the development of its clients?A bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review

This paper conducts a scientometric analysis and systematic literature review to identify the trends in microfinance outcomes from the perspective of their recipients,specifically more vulnerable people,while also focusing on the demand side.Applying the keywords“co-occurrence networks”and“citation networks,”we examined 524 studies indexed on the ISI Web of Science database between 2012 and March 2021.The subsequent content analysis of bibliometric-coupled articles concerns the main research topics in this field:the socioeconomic outcomes of microfinance,the dichotomy between social performance and the mission drift of microfinance institutions,and how entrepreneurship and financial innovation,specifically through crowdfunding,mitigate poverty and empower the more vulnerable.The findings reinforce the idea that microfinance constitutes a distinct field of development thinking,and indicate that a more holistic approach should be adopted to boost microfinance outcomes through a better understanding of their beneficiaries.The trends in this field will help policymakers,regulators,and academics to examine the nuts and bolts of microfinance and identify the most relevant areas of intervention.

Impact of global financial crunch on financially innovative microfinance institutions in South Asia

The wave of global financial crises(2008-2009)caused a surge in the capital flows of developed countries particularly,between developed and developing countries.The crunch hit all financial sectors with unanticipated severity.The study evaluates the role of a country’s political practices in moderating the impact of global financial crunch on microfinance performance.Using the fixed effect panel regression method on the dataset comprising of 95 MFIs operating in South Asia from 2003 to 2012,we determine that microfinance operational capability shares a positive relationship with the institutional attributes of a country and our output reveals that impact of country’s political practices is pervasive on the financial output of MFIs,liable to different levels of implementation.The findings further reveals that MFIs situated in countries having vigorous political practices are less severely affected by the economic crunch.

Application of a distributed verification in Islamic microfinance institutions:a sustainable model

The literature gap in microfinance paradox of double bottom line(financial performance vs.outreach)has always been an interesting area of research.This paper proposes a theoretical model most suitable for Islamic Microfinance Institutions(MFIs)which enables Islamic MFIs’to operate together with the existing financial models compliant with Islamic Shariah Law.This model is based on a distributed verification/decision-making process that might be realized(but not necessary)through block-chain.Among the available distributed verification techniques,blockchain technology is an attractive emerging computing paradigm due to its decentralized,immutable,shared,and secure data structure characteristics.This model proposes three significant propositions.First,sharing information through blockchain will allow a transparent network in MFI operations,which will raise confidence for donors resulting in a causal effect of a relatively lower profit rate to be charged by the MFIs.Second,the consensus mechanism will enable risk-sharing,a character of Islamic finance;thus,the MFIs will operate without any collateral for low-risk firms.Third,the double bottom line of MFIs’long-lasting paradox would be solved.As for practical implication of this proposed model,the causal impact of lower cost investment by the lenders would increase social welfare because of no collateral and no initial wealth requirement.The proposed model proposes a credit rationing approach where profit can be negative.No collateral will be used when calculating the creditworthiness of a borrower.

Is Microfinance Beneficial or Opportunistic?

Microfinance has been established targeting access to finance for poor people who are screened out from getting loans from formal financial institutions due to lack of collateral and low creditworthiness.There has undergone a tremendous transformation in all aspects of microfinance,including outreach and portfolio size,proliferation of microfinance through a large number of microfinance institutions,diversification of services,new regulatory regime,contribution in rural development,recognition of microfinance as a major contributor in poverty reduction,etc.However,the microfinance sector is facing many challenges regarding institutional capacity,quality,and diversity of services,fallout from political and macroeconomic factors,replication of agricultural credit,and so forth.The objective of this article is to find out whether microfinance has impact on poverty reduction and economic development at all.

The Impact of Corporate Governance and Ethics on Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)—The Case for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, 2009-2019

The paper presents and examines the impact of corporate governance and ethics in particular on sustainable development of the Zimbabwean microfinance sector in the period 2009-2019.The critical microfinance institutions(MFIs)crisis experienced in Masvingo,Zimbabwe recently was not the first one in the world in terms of its severity.The main aim of MFIs in any economy is to serve the poor and vulnerable people of a society through providing them with soft or concessional loans,insurance coverage,and facilities for savings.The study used the descriptive qualitative design to draw research data from MFIs dotted in and around Masvingo Province for presentation,analysis,and interpretation.One of the major findings of the study was that corporate governance and ethics played an indispensable role in the growth and development of MFIs’products and services.The study also realized that good corporate governance and ethical behaviours in business practices were essential for the success of any organization and vice versa and MFIs were no exception.The study therefore concluded that poor capital formation,corporate governance and ethics,human recruitment and selection procedures and fraudulent activities or misappropriation of funds were responsible for the majority of threats faced by MFIs in Masvingo in their growth and development endeavours.Therefore the study recommended that directors of MFIs should craft policies and strategies that are corporate governance and ethics oriented in their desire to grow their business towards sustainable development in the foreseeable future.

The Analysis of Obstacles to Rural Microfinance Development in China

On the basis of presenting the terminology and classification of Rural Microfinance, this paper introduces the present situation of China's rural microfinance development and analyses the factors that hinder the highly efficient and sustainable development of rural microfinance in current China. These factors include the operational risk, the financial resource and the sustainability of development, the regulation issues, and the issue of financial supporting services. This paper also makes several suggestions concerning policy making: the government should vigorously promote innovations in systems and mechanisms as well as products, constantly improve financial supporting services, and put more emphasis on supervision and control, as well as policy support.

Microfinance Structure of Thailand

This paper was devoted to analyzing the structure of microfinance in Thailand. The theory of industrial organization （IO） was applied as a guideline to measure the degree of monopoly power in microfinance structure. The objective-of the study was investigation on Thai microfinance institution marketing structure by using Concentration Ratio （CR） and Herfindahl Hirschman Index （HHI）. The data of the study focus on the outstanding loans market share of microfinance institutions （MFIs）. The market share of the outstanding loans of MFIs from the largest to the smallest is as follows： Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives （BAAC）, Village Fund Cooperatives, Government Saving Bank （GSB）, Pawnshop, Self Help group： Saving Group, Commercial Bank, Self Help Group： Sudja Group and Isalamic Bank （IB）, respectively. It stated that CR by outstanding loans is as follows： Cr 1, 59.35%; Cr 3, 81.11%; Cr 6, 92.14%; and Cr 9, 94.37%. At the same time HHI is 0.38. Additionally, BAAC remains the majority MFIs even though there are the other MFIs available in the microfinance system. The main role of providing the microfinance services mostly derived from BAAC.

Microfinance Services and Economic Growth of Households in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Microfinance institutions play a great role for small businesses activities, deposits, and loans to improve households and constrained people who are not reached by formal financial institutions. This study aimed to investigate on the microfinance services and economic growth of households in Lubumbashi. The study applied descriptive and correlation design. Questionnaire was administered to 125 respondents and simple random sampling technique was used to select them. With the use of statistical techniques applied for data analysis, it was concluded that there is a significant relationship between microfinance services and economic growth of households. From the results, it was recommended that microfinance services should not only be considered as credit and lending activities, but also include insurance, savings, and transactional services for money transfer.

Microfinance and Shelter: An Impact Assessment of Microfinance on Improving Housing Conditions of Rural Sri Lanka

This paper examines the impact of microfinance(MF)programmes on improving the shelter conditions of beneficiary households of Southern Province in Sri Lanka.The ownership of conditional house is one of key indicators measure fulfilling the basic needs of a household on the one hand and healthiness of it on the other.The study is based on the data and information gathered from a sample survey of 405 microfinance recipients of four national level leading Microfinance Institutions(MFIs)in Sri Lanka for 2017.These include:Thrift and Credit Cooperative Societies(TCCSs),Samurdhi Banking Societies(SBSs),Ruhuna Development Bank(RDB),and Sarvodaya Economic Enterprise Development Societies(SEEDS).For analysis purpose,a comparison group has been selected from the existing MF recipients whose membership duration with microfinance(MF)is not longer than one year to compare their shelter status with that of existing MF recipients whose membership duration with MF programmes is longer than one year.Three indicators:size of living space,conditions of the house,and current market value of a dwelling house are used for assessing the impact.Based on the data analysis,the study found that Microfinance has benefited the Borrowing Households(BHHs)to improve their shelter status in terms of all the indicators of housing conditions(except roof condition),size of living space,and market value of a dwelling house.

Managing Social Performance A Case of Microfinance

Global financial crises might and should be recognized as a potential chance to introduce changes in managing our business, both in financial and other important private and/or public sectors. The prevailing opinion is that a lack of corporative social responsibility is one of the major reasons that lead to global crises occurrence. Nowadays, it is crucial to use the experiences of other industries and sectors which from their very beginning managed to balance finance and social goals at the same time. Microfinance sector is exactly one such sector. This paper is organized as follows： First, we give some overview of different approaches to measuring social performance of microfinance institutions. In this part of the paper we also accent the specifics of microfinance institutions-management within the context of double bottom line. In the second part we focus our analysis on practical implementation of ＂double bottom line management in Prizma MCO, one of the world pioneers in social performance management, by using their revolutionary poverty scorecard system. Then, we analyze how these social performance data are used in decision-making and how it affects overall performance of the organization. The paper is finished with some conclusions and lessons learned.

Ownership Forms and Costs of Operations of Microfinance Institutions in Cameroon

This paper investigates on the relative costs of operations of microfinance institutions(MFIs)in Cameroon with regard to their ownership forms.We extracted data from MIX Market which included 31 MFIs over the period 2001-2017.On processing data though a multinomial logistic regression,we found out that affiliated Credit Unions were the most cost-efficient organisational form,but the portfolio efficiency was nearly the same all across ownership patterns.Affiliated Credit Unions underwent the lowest operating expenses whereas Microbanks significantly reported the highest financial expenses.Also,we did not find any significant differences between personnel productivity across ownership forms.

Impact of Operational Process Factors on Strategy Implementation in Microfinance Organisations in a Developing Country

This paper sets to explore management perceptions regarding the impact of operational process factors on strategy implementation in microfinance organisations in Kenya.Small and medium enterprises(SMEs)play a critical role in developing countries as a source of employment creation and a basis for industrialization.However,the sector receives inadequate financial support from commercial banks as it is considered to bear high risks and operational costs associate with lending small loan amounts.Microfinance organisations(MFOs)that serve this sector will need to expand their operations to increase their outreach to SMEs.Formulation and implementation of competitive strategies will enable MFOs to achieve growth and sustainability.Content,context and operational process factors appear to have a significance positive relationship to the level of strategy implementation.This paper is focusing on operational process factors impacting on strategy implementation and is part of a full study on the topic of strategy implementation in MFOs.Comprehensive literature review provided the theoretical framework for the study.Primary data were collected by means of a survey obtaining 300 self-administered questionnaires from managers in 135 MFOs in Kenya.The study revealed that the level of strategy implementation in MFOs in Kenya is moderate to high.This study has revealed that the operational process category of factors is more significant to the level of strategy implementation than content and context factors.Five operational process factors critical to strategy implementation include:operational planning and monitoring,management control systems,people-strategy fit,teamwork,and effective communication.Further,the level of strategy implementation has significance positive influence to MFOs’financial sustainability and outreach.Practical guidelines are provided to assist MFOs in developing countries to improve the level of strategy implementation by focusing on operational process factors.

Economic Empowerment of Rural Women:Case Study of Microfinance Institution(MFIs)in Tangerang,Indonesia

The aim of this research is to extract information from married female clients who utilize financing,empowering,and other facilities provided by Microfinance Institutions(MFIs).Quantitative descriptive approach is used in order to describe MFIs.Specifically,the difference between MFIs in each area will be overviewed by using statistical instruments of testing for a difference between means and independent F-test.On the other hand,descriptive qualitative approach is used to review the social interactions of female clients.The results of this research have uncovered some facts.First,however,Difference-Between-Two-Means Test has revealed that no significant difference is found.This shows that the empowering aspect that has been done by MFIs conforms with the standard.Second,the fact that no significant difference is found in the empowering process has been backed by data that reveals relatively small loans scale,similarity in business models,unvaried necessity,relatively small expenditure and living cost,low access to education,and good accessibility to MFIs.Third,business models that are desirable by female clients have these characteristics:only requiring a minimum amount of capital;durable;fast-moving;focusing more on costumers;adaptable;contributing to the socieW's economy;flexible;having a set amount of freedom.

Economic Analysis of Microfinance： Evidence from China

China＇s evolutionary reform brought China economy enormous progress, which also subsided the poverty phenomenon. But the present anti-poverty task is still very arduous for China today. Peasant household＇s microfinance is a kind of important tool which contributes to the poverty alleviation. The sustainable development of microfinance has become a serous problem at present. This text analyses the sustainable development of microfinance through setting up the income model of microfinance, then puts forward the way to solve.

Perceived value of microfinance and SME performance: The role of exploratory innovation

This study examines how perceived value of microfinance and exploratory innovation affect small and medium-sized enterprises(SME)performance in the context of a developing nation.Drawing on the strategic innovation and microfinance literature,we hypothesize that(1)perceived value of microfinance affects exploratory innovation and SME performance,and(2)exploratory innovation serves as an effective mechanism through which microfinance enhances SME per-formance.We employ partial least squares structural equation modeling(PLS-SEM)to test our hypotheses.Using a sample of 581 Ghanaian SMEs with microfinance,the results of the PLS SEM support our hypotheses.We further conducted a qualitative analysis of comments provided by the SMEs(n=144)to gain a deeper understanding of exploratory innovation in developing econo-mies.Our findings show that SMEs purposefully attempt to strengthen their exploratory inno-vation in microfinance.We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as future research avenues.

Modalities of Microfinance Delivery in Asia and Latin America: Lessons for China

Microfinance, the provision of small size loans and other financial services to low mcome 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 Latin America, but as yet relatively little use of the approach in China. This paper assesses different approaches to microfinance delivery using a threefoM distinction, the credit union approach, the non-government organization approach and the banking approach, to generalize across recent Asian and Latin American experience and discuss the role of microfinance in poverty reduction in a theoretical framework. Considering the current state of microfinance in China and international experience, we suggest the banking approach as the way to best increase outreach of micro-financial services in China.

CONSTRUCTING AN ACCESS SYSTEM FOR UNBANKED IN MYANMAR TO A MICROFINANCE INSTITUTION

In Myanmar, the formal financial institution does not provide uncollateralized credits. The rural unbanked under the poverty line is depending on the informal money-lenders with high interest rate. Private Agency Collaboration Together is only one microfinance institution providing the credits without collateral and with low interest rate to the unbanked in Myanmar. Half of the unbanked are unable to borrow the loans from the microfinance institution because of the weakness of the information contribution and the strict legal policies of the microfinance institution. Therefore, the objective of this study is to construct a system to improve the relationship between the microfinance institution and the unbanked by reducing the obstacles in the current system ofmicrofinance institution. The legal policy is studied from the vision of the local unbanked as the originality of this research and the /-System methodology is applied to accomplish the research. The current system comprises the information contribution, loans and legal policies. The current system is only one relationship between the microfinance institution and unbanked. When the ten obstacles occurred in the current system, the unbanked cannot approach to the microfinance institution. An access system including four sub-systems is developed depending on the collected ideas to solve these obstacles and intend to improve the relationship between microfinance institution and the unbanked.