Recent evidence suggests only modest social and economic impacts of microfinance. Favorable cost-benefit ratios then … depend on low costs. This paper uses proprietary data on 1,335 microfinance institutions between 2005 and 2009, jointly … serving 80.1 million borrowers, to calculate the costs of microfinance and other elements of the microfinance business model …

Front-line loan officers of microfinance institutions are important in acquiring information on potential borrowers and … selecting them in accordance with the microfinance institution's mission. This study uses a unique data set on loan officers and … their loan portfolios from China's largest nongovernmental organization microfinance institution to test whether officers …

Self-help groups (SHGs) are the most common form of microfinance in India. The authors provide evidence that SHGs …

Microfinance is generally seen as a way to fix credit markets and unleash the productive capacities of poor people who … are dependent on self-employment. The microfinance sector has grown quickly since the 1990s, paving the way for other …, generating a backlash against microfinance. This paper reconsiders the claims about microfinance, highlighting the diversity in …

This paper evaluates effectiveness of microfinance using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method applied to data … the original study and provide more nuanced evidence by comparing Microfinance Institution (MFI) borrowers to those … true microfinance impact. The results suggest that microfinance can make a modest difference for some households in several …