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...

Scope economies resulting from the joint offering of loans and savings accounts (as opposed to loans only) are customarily invoked to promote the transformation of credit-only microfinance institutions (MFIs) into integrated loans-and-savings entities. To ensure robust inference, we estimate...

This chapter gives the reader an introduction to microfinance and reports how the industry has moved from generally being praised to increasingly being criticized. Particularly the chapter addresses the concern that microfinance institutions chase profits and are moving away from the poor...