IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v51y2016icp32-45.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Productivity and its determinants in microfinance institutions (MFIs): Evidence from South Asian countries

Author

Listed:
  • Mia, Md Aslam
  • Ben Soltane, Bassem Ibrahim

Abstract

This study investigates the productivity of 50 South Asian microfinance institutions (MFIs) by deploying a Malmquist Productivity Index (an extension of Data Envelopment Analysis) with a panel data covering the years 2007 to 2012. The empirical results indicate that South Asian MFIs have improved their annual average productivity by 2.1% largely due to changes in technical efficiency. However, the overall level of technological change is shown to remain static. Further decomposition of technical efficiency change indicates that overall productivity progress is mainly due to scale efficiency. In the course of investigating the determinants of productivity, this study found that the productivity of South Asian MFIs is significantly affected by financial, economic and institutional factors. Policy implications are further discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Mia, Md Aslam & Ben Soltane, Bassem Ibrahim, 2016. "Productivity and its determinants in microfinance institutions (MFIs): Evidence from South Asian countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 32-45.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:51:y:2016:i:c:p:32-45
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2016.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592615300394
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2016.05.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Piot-Lepetit, Isabelle & Nzongang, Joseph, 2014. "Financial sustainability and poverty outreach within a network of village banks in Cameroon: A multi-DEA approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 234(1), pages 319-330.
    2. Benazir Basharat & Marek Hudon & Ahmad Nawaz, 2015. "Does efficiency lead to lower prices? A new perspective from microfinance interest rates," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/179160, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Steven B. Caudill & Daniel M. Gropper & Valentina Hartarska, 2009. "Which Microfinance Institutions Are Becoming More Cost Effective with Time? Evidence from a Mixture Model," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 651-672, June.
    4. Ahlin, Christian & Lin, Jocelyn & Maio, Michael, 2011. "Where does microfinance flourish? Microfinance institution performance in macroeconomic context," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 105-120, July.
    5. Isabelle Piot-Lepetit & Joseph Nzongang, 2014. "Financial sustainability and poverty outreach within a network of village banks in Cameroon: A multi DEA approach," Post-Print hal-02639487, HAL.
    6. Ihsan Isik & M. Kabir Hassan, 2003. "Efficiency, Ownership and Market Structure, Corporate Control and Governance in the Turkish Banking Industry," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(9‐10), pages 1363-1421, December.
    7. Sufian, Fadzlan, 2011. "Banks total factor productivity change in a developing economy: Does ownership and origins matter?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 84-98, February.
    8. Valentina Hartarska & Denis Nadolnyak, 2007. "Do regulated microfinance institutions achieve better sustainability and outreach? Cross-country evidence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(10), pages 1207-1222.
    9. V. G. R. Chandran & Veera Pandiyan, 2008. "Technical efficiency and technological change in Malaysian service industries," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(8), pages 655-657.
    10. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    11. Aigbe Akhigbe & James McNulty, 2005. "Profit efficiency sources and differences among small and large U.S. commercial banks," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 29(3), pages 289-299, September.
    12. 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.
    13. Esubalew Assefa & Niels Hermes & Aljar Meesters, 2013. "Competition and the performance of microfinance institutions," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 767-782, May.
    14. Hermes, Niels & Lensink, Robert & Meesters, Aljar, 2011. "Outreach and Efficiency of Microfinance Institutions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 938-948, June.
    15. Shakil Quayes, 2012. "Depth of outreach and financial sustainability of microfinance institutions," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(26), pages 3421-3433, September.
    16. Jayati Ghosh, 2013. "Microfinance and the challenge of financial inclusion for development," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(6), pages 1203-1219.
    17. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos & Mar Molinero, Cecilio, 2007. "Microfinance institutions and efficiency," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 131-142, April.
    18. Katsushi Imai & Raghav Gaiha & Ganesh Thapa & Samuel Kobina AnnimAditi Gupta & Aditi Gupta, 2011. "Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Macroeconomic and Institutional Perspective," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1116, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    19. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    20. Grifell-Tatje, E. & Lovell, C. A. K., 1996. "Deregulation and productivity decline: The case of Spanish bavings banks," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1281-1303, June.
    21. Soltane Bassem, Ben, 2014. "Total factor productivity change of MENA microfinance institutions: A Malmquist productivity index approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 182-189.
    22. Hartarska, Valentina & Shen, Xuan & Mersland, Roy, 2013. "Scale economies and input price elasticities in microfinance institutions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 118-131.
    23. Philippe Moutot & Dieter Gerdesmeier & Adriana Lojschová & Julian von Landesberger, 2007. "The role of other financial intermediaries in monetary and credit developments in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 75, European Central Bank.
    24. Muneer Babu M. & Praveen Kulshreshtha, 2014. "Productivity Change and Technical Efficiency in Indian Microfinance Institutions," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 2(2), pages 165-200, December.
    25. Shakil Quayes, 2015. "Outreach and performance of microfinance institutions: a panel analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(18), pages 1909-1925, April.
    26. De Bandt, Olivier & Davis, E. Philip, 2000. "Competition, contestability and market structure in European banking sectors on the eve of EMU," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1045-1066, June.
    27. Cull, Robert & Harten, Sven & Nishida, Ippei & Rusu, Anca Bogdana & Bull, Greta, 2015. "Benchmarking the financial performance, growth, and outreach of greenfield MFIs in Africa," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 92-124.
    28. Gerdesmeier, Dieter & von Landesberger, Julian & Lojschová, Adriana & Moutot, Philippe, 2007. "The role of other financial intermediaries in monetary and credit developments in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 75, European Central Bank.
    29. Wijesiri, Mahinda & Meoli, Michele, 2015. "Productivity change of microfinance institutions in Kenya: A bootstrap Malmquist approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 115-121.
    30. Staikouras, Christos & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel & Koutsomanoli-Filippaki, Anastasia, 2008. "An empirical investigation of operating performance in the new European banking landscape," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 32-45.
    31. Twaha, Koire & Rashid, Abdul, 2012. "Exploring the determinants of the productivity of microfinance institutions in India," MPRA Paper 45715, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    32. Louis, Philippe & Seret, Alex & Baesens, Bart, 2013. "Financial Efficiency and Social Impact of Microfinance Institutions Using Self-Organizing Maps," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 197-210.
    33. Roy Mersland & Reidar Øystein Strøm, 2008. "Performance and trade-offs in Microfinance Organisations-does ownership matter?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(5), pages 598-612.
    34. McIntosh, Craig & Wydick, Bruce, 2005. "Competition and microfinance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 271-298, December.
    35. Gropp, Reint E. & Corvoisier, Sandrine, 2009. "Contestability, Technology and Banking," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-007, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Md Aslam Mia & Sunil Sangwan & A. H. M. Belayeth Hussain & Nurhafiza Abdul Kader Malim, 2022. "Rural–urban financial inclusion: Implications on the cost sustainability of microfinance lenders," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1899-1911, September.
    2. Delaram Najmaei Lonbani & Bram De Rock, 2020. "The performance of microfinance institutions: An analysis of the local and legal constraints," Working Papers CEB 20-011, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Md. Harun Ur Rashid & Shah Asadullah Mohd. Zobair & Md. Asad Iqbal Chowdhury & Azharul Islam, 2020. "Corporate governance and banks’ productivity: evidence from the banking industry in Bangladesh," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(2), pages 615-637, July.
    4. Li, Lin Yang & Hermes, Niels & Meesters, Aljar, 2019. "Convergence of the performance of microfinance institutions: A decomposition analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 308-324.
    5. Kar, Ashim Kumar & Rahman, Sanzidur, 2018. "Changes in total factor productivity and efficiency of microfinance institutions in the developing world: A non-parametric approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 103-118.
    6. Md Aslam Mia & Lucia Dalla Pellegrina & Cheng Zhang & Sunil Sangwan, 2022. "Efficiency Wage and Productivity in the Indian Microfinance Industry: A Panel Evidence," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 11(2), pages 235-252, July.
    7. Hafezali Iqbal Hussain & Katarzyna Szczepanska-Woszczyna & Fakarudin Kamarudin & Nazratul Aina Mohamad Anwar & Mohd Haizam Mohd Saudi, 2021. "Unboxing the black box on the dimensions of social globalisation and the efficiency of microfinance institutions in Asia," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 12(3), pages 557-592, September.
    8. Salas-Velasco, Manuel, 2018. "Production efficiency measurement and its determinants across OECD countries: The role of business sophistication and innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 60-73.
    9. Fall, François & Akim, Al-mouksit & Wassongma, Harouna, 2018. "DEA and SFA research on the efficiency of microfinance institutions: A meta-analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 176-188.
    10. Efendić Velid & Hadžiahmetović Nejra, 2019. "Productivity Change of Microfinance Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 23-33, December.
    11. George E. Halkos & Christina Bampatsou, 2019. "Economic growth and environmental degradation: a conditional nonparametric frontier analysis," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 21(2), pages 325-347, April.
    12. Robin, Iftekhar & Salim, Ruhul & Bloch, Harry, 2018. "Financial performance of commercial banks in the post-reform era: Further evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 43-54.

    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. Niels Hermes & Marek Hudon, 2018. "Determinants Of The Performance Of Microfinance Institutions: A Systematic Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 1483-1513, December.
    2. Hermes, Cornelis & Hudon, M., 2018. "Determinants of the Performance of Microfinance Institutions: A Systematic Review," Research Report 2018008, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    3. Fall, François & Akim, Al-mouksit & Wassongma, Harouna, 2018. "DEA and SFA research on the efficiency of microfinance institutions: A meta-analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 176-188.
    4. Md Aslam Mia & V. G. R. Chandran, 2016. "Measuring Financial and Social Outreach Productivity of Microfinance Institutions in Bangladesh," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 505-527, June.
    5. Wijesiri, Mahinda & Yaron, Jacob & Meoli, Michele, 2017. "Assessing the financial and outreach efficiency of microfinance institutions: Do age and size matter?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 63-76.
    6. 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.
    7. Delaram Najmaei Lonbani & Bram De Rock, 2020. "The performance of microfinance institutions: An analysis of the local and legal constraints," Working Papers CEB 20-011, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Wijesiri, Mahinda & Yaron, Jacob & Meoli, Michele, 2015. "Performance of microfinance institutions in achieving the poverty outreach and financial sustainability: When age and size matter?," MPRA Paper 69821, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Ashim Kumar Kar & Ranjula Bali Swain, 2018. "Competition, Performance and Portfolio Quality in Microfinance Markets," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(5), pages 842-870, December.
    10. Li, Lin Yang & Hermes, Niels & Meesters, Aljar, 2019. "Convergence of the performance of microfinance institutions: A decomposition analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 308-324.
    11. Wijesiri, Mahinda, 2016. "Weathering the storm: ownership structure and performance of microfinance institutions in the wake of the global financial crisis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 238-247.
    12. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Priberny, Christopher & Röhe, Michaela, 2017. "Why do microfinance institutions fail socially? A global empirical examination," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 81-89.
    13. Maxime LEBOVICS & Niels HERMES & Marek HUDON, 2016. "Are Financial And Social Efficiency Mutually Exclusive? A Case Study Of Vietnamese Microfinance Institutions," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(1), pages 55-77, December.
    14. Karel Janda & Pavel Zetek, 2015. "Mikrofinanční revoluce: kontroverze a výzvy [Microfinance Revolution: Controversies and Challenges]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(1), pages 108-130.
    15. Syed Mohsin & Malik Fahim Bashir & Yasir Bin Tariq, 2018. "Outreach and Performance Analysis of Microfinance Banks in Pakistan," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 10(3), pages 21-40, September.
    16. Wijesiri, Mahinda & Viganò, Laura & Meoli, Michele, 2015. "Efficiency of microfinance institutions in Sri Lanka: a two-stage double bootstrap DEA approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 74-83.
    17. Shamima Nasrin & Rajah Rasiah & Angathevar Baskaran & Muhammad Mehedi Masud, 2018. "What determines the financial performance of microfinance institutions in Bangladesh? a panel data analysis," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 1409-1422, May.
    18. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    19. Janda, Karel & Zetek, Pavel, 2014. "Mikrofinanční Revoluce: Aktuální Kontroverze A Výzvy [Microfinance Revolution: Recent Controversies And Challenges]," MPRA Paper 54098, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microfinance institutions; Productivity; Technological change; Technical efficiency change; South Asia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:eee:ecanpo:v:51:y:2016:i:c:p:32-45. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    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.