This study explores the social entrepreneurial potential of the rule-breaking practices of microfinance programs’ beneficiaries. We empirically apply the positive theory of social entrepreneurship that views social entrepreneurship as a pursuit of neglected positive externalities. Using the...

Using data from Bangladesh, this paper finds that the liquidity premium—the difference between the interest paid on illiquid and liquid savings accounts—is higher in commercial banks than in microfinance institutions. One possible interpretation lies in the higher prevalence of...

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) provide loans to low income individuals. The credit scoring systems of MFIs, if they exist, are strictly financial. Although many MFIs consider the social impact of their loans, they do not incorporate formal systems to estimate this social impact. This paper...

We use an innovative methodology to analyze social responsibility in double bottom line institutions such as microfinance institutions. We provide empirical evidence on the distribution of the generated surplus between the key stakeholders of one of the most famous MFIs worldwide: Banco...

The paper presents a social innovation as an innovative business model with new social relations and indicates a few short cases to indicate how a social problem was addressed by a social innovation by entrepreneurial actions by microfinance service providers. The cases are from microcredit,...

Slow money, or patient nurturing capital invested locally in food and basic industries, is a new term but an old notion. This paper examines the cases of the CIGALES clubs of microangels in France and the more recent case of the slow money alliance to ferret out the basic principles and...

This paper starts from a puzzle. On the one hand, the literature documents that a large proportion of poor people are ready to forgo interest on rigid – or commitment – savings accounts to discipline their future selves. On the other, our stylized facts from Bangladesh show that microfinance...

Inclusive financial sectors are essential in terms of poverty alleviation. While microcredit can be governed as a private good, self-managed civil society organizations propose an alternative way of managing financial services. Brazil's Community Development Banks (CDBs) are a growing and...

When assessing the financial performance of Microfinance institutions, the current literature commonly uses balance sheets and income statements. In order to assess sources of cash generated, if any, we analyse the cash flow statements of the 30 largest MFIs that display audited reports between...

The success of microfinance rests upon product simplicity, standardization, and the capacity to stimulate client discipline. However, poor people desperately need flexible financial products to improve their day-to-day money management and cope with shocks. This paper discusses how microfinance...