IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v40y2012i3p643-655.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competition Between Microfinance NGOs: Evidence from Kiva

Author

Listed:
  • Ly, Pierre
  • Mason, Geri

Abstract

This paper investigates empirically the effect of competition between microfinance NGOs seeking subsidized capital from individual social investors. Although NGO behavior in competitive environments is often subject to controversy, there is little formal empirical evidence to illustrate theoretical findings and inform policy. Using data from Kiva, an online peer-to-peer (P2P) microfinance platform, we find that competition has a sizable negative impact on projects’ funding speed and that the effect is stronger between close substitutes. This is important because competition for subsidized capital implies organizational pressures similar to those faced when NGOs compete for donations.

Suggested Citation

  • Ly, Pierre & Mason, Geri, 2012. "Competition Between Microfinance NGOs: Evidence from Kiva," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 643-655.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:3:p:643-655
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.09.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X11002312
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.09.009?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. Dean Karlan & Martin Valdivia, 2011. "Teaching Entrepreneurship: Impact of Business Training on Microfinance Clients and Institutions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 510-527, May.
    2. Nicholas Economides & Susan Rose-Ackerman, 1993. "Differentiated Public Goods: Privatization and Optimality," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Hiroshi Ohta & Jacques-François Thisse (ed.), Does Economic Space Matter?, chapter 6, pages 111-132, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Rosenbaum, David I., 1993. "Profit, entry and changes in concentration," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 185-203, June.
    4. Peter Nunnenkamp & Hannes Öhler, 2012. "Funding, Competition and the Efficiency of NGOs : An Empirical Analysis of Non‐charitable Expenditure of US NGOs Engaged in Foreign Aid," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 81-110, February.
    5. Aldashev, Gani & Verdier, Thierry, 2010. "Goodwill bazaar: NGO competition and giving to development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 48-63, January.
    6. Robert Cull & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Jonathan Morduch, 2009. "Microfinance Meets the Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 167-192, Winter.
    7. Mark Armstrong & David E.M. Sappington, 2006. "Regulation, Competition and Liberalization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(2), pages 325-366, June.
    8. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
    9. Jens Prüfer, 2011. "Competition And Mergers Among Nonprofits," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 69-92.
    10. Barış K. Yörük, 2012. "The Effect of Media on Charitable Giving and Volunteering: Evidence from the “Give Five” Campaign," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 813-836, September.
    11. Susan Rose-Ackerman, 1996. "Altruism, Nonprofits, and Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 701-728, June.
    12. Michael G. Vita & Seth Sacher, 2001. "The Competitive Effects of Not‐for‐Profit Hospital Mergers: A Case Study," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 63-84, March.
    13. 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.
    14. Morduch, Jonathan, 2000. "The Microfinance Schism," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 617-629, April.
    15. PESTIEAU, Pierre & SATO, Motohiro, 2006. "Limiting the number of charities," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2006074, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    16. Susan Rose-Ackerman, 1982. "Charitable Giving and “Excessive†Fundraising," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 97(2), pages 193-212.
    17. Arvind Ashta & Djamchid Assadi, 2009. "An Analysis of European Online micro-lending Websites," Working Papers CEB 09-059.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    18. Feigenbaum, Susan, 1987. "Competition and Performance in the Nonprofit Sector: The Case of U.S. Medical Research Charities," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 241-253, March.
    19. Ghosh, Suman & Van Tassel, Eric, 2011. "Microfinance and competition for external funding," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 168-170, August.
    20. Hiroshi Ohta & Jacques-François Thisse (ed.), 1993. "Does Economic Space Matter?," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-22906-2.
    21. N. Gregory Mankiw & Michael D. Whinston, 1986. "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(1), pages 48-58, Spring.
    22. Jeremy Thornton, 2008. "Competition, Contractibility, and the Market for Donors to Nonprofits," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 215-246, May.
    23. McIntosh, Craig & Wydick, Bruce, 2005. "Competition and microfinance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 271-298, December.
    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. Kopel, Michael & Marini, Marco A., 2022. "Mandatory disclosure of managerial contracts in NGOs," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 65-85.
    2. Armstrong, Kelly & Ahsan, Mujtaba & Sundaramurthy, Chamu, 2018. "Microfinance ecosystem: How connectors, interactors, and institutionalizers co-create value," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 147-155.
    3. Jonas Gamso & Jikuo Lu & Farhod Yuldashev, 2021. "Does foreign aid volatility increase international migration?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 581-598, July.
    4. Jordana VIOTTO, 2015. "Competition and Regulation of Crowdfunding Platforms: A Two-sided Market Approach," Communications & Strategies, IDATE, Com&Strat dept., vol. 1(99), pages 33-50, 3rd quart.
    5. Gregor Dorfleitner & Eva‐Maria Oswald, 2016. "Repayment behavior in peer‐to‐peer microfinancing: Empirical evidence from Kiva," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 45-59, September.
    6. Gani ALDASHEV & Cecilia NAVARRA, 2018. "Development Ngos: Basic Facts," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 125-155, March.
    7. Liu, Aiping & Urquía-Grande, Elena & López-Sánchez, Pilar & Rodríguez-López, Ángel, 2023. "Research into microfinance and ICTs: A bibliometric analysis," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    8. Michael Kopel & Marco A. Marini, 2020. "Mandatory Disclosure of Managerial Contracts in Nonprofit Organizations," Working Papers 2020.26, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    9. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Oswald, Eva-Maria, 2016. "Repayment behavior in peer-to-peer microfinancing: Empirical evidence from Kiva," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 45-59.
    10. Zhiyuan Gao & Zhiling Guo & Qian Tang, 2022. "How do monetary incentives influence giving? An empirical investigation of matching subsidies on kiva," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 303-324, June.
    11. Maria Figueroa-Armijos & John P. Berns, 2022. "Vulnerable Populations and Individual Social Responsibility in Prosocial Crowdfunding: Does the Framing Matter for Female and Rural Entrepreneurs?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 377-394, May.
    12. Sofia Bapna & Martin Ganco, 2021. "Gender Gaps in Equity Crowdfunding: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 2679-2710, May.
    13. Gregor Dorfleitner & Eva-Maria Oswald & Rongxin Zhang, 2021. "From Credit Risk to Social Impact: On the Funding Determinants in Interest-Free Peer-to-Peer Lending," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 375-400, May.
    14. Abrar, Afsheen & Hasan, Iftekhar & Kabir, Rezaul, 2021. "Finance-growth nexus and banking efficiency: The impact of microfinance institutions," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    15. Emanuel-Correia, Ricardo & Duarte, Fábio & Gama, Ana Paula Matias & Augusto, Mário, 2022. "Does peer-to-peer crowdfunding boost refugee entrepreneurs?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    16. Radhakrishnan, Smitha, 2015. "“Low Profile” or Entrepreneurial? Gender, Class, and Cultural Adaptation in the Global Microfinance Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 264-274.
    17. Fang, Xing, 2022. "Why we hide good deeds? The selfless and anonymous donation behavior in crowdfunding," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. Ana Paula Matias Gama & Ricardo Emanuel Correia & Mário Augusto & Fábio Duarte, 2023. "Third-party signals in crowdfunded microfinance: which microfinance institutions boost crowdfunding among refugee entrepreneurs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 559-586, August.
    19. repec:bla:annpce:v:89:y:2018:i:1:p:125-155 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Yoo, Jenny Jeongeun & Song, Sangyoung & Jhang, Jihoon, 2022. "Overhead aversion and facial expressions in crowdfunding," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    21. Kollenda, Philipp, 2022. "Financial returns or social impact? What motivates impact investors’ lending to firms in low-income countries," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    22. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Oswald, Eva-Maria & Röhe, Michaela, 2020. "The access of microfinance institutions to financing via the worldwide crowd," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 133-146.
    23. Danielle Logue & Matthew Grimes, 2022. "Platforms for the people: Enabling civic crowdfunding through the cultivation of institutional infrastructure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 663-693, March.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Bos, Jaap W.B. & Millone, Matteo, 2015. "Practice What You Preach: Microfinance Business Models and Operational Efficiency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 28-42.
    4. Jia, Xiangping & Cull, Robert & Guo, Pei & Ma, Tao, 2016. "Commercialization and mission drift: Evidence from a large Chinese microfinance institution," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 17-32.
    5. 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.
    6. Tyler Wry & Eric Yanfei Zhao, 2018. "Taking Trade-offs Seriously: Examining the Contextually Contingent Relationship Between Social Outreach Intensity and Financial Sustainability in Global Microfinance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 507-528, June.
    7. Verdier, Thierry & Aldashev, Gani, 2007. "NGO Competition and the Markets for Development Donations," CEPR Discussion Papers 6350, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Aldashev, Gani & Verdier, Thierry, 2010. "Goodwill bazaar: NGO competition and giving to development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 48-63, January.
    9. 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.
    10. Ghosh, Suman & Van Tassel, Eric, 2013. "Funding microfinance under asymmetric information," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 8-15.
    11. 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).
    12. Chakravarty, Sugato & Pylypiv, Mariya I., 2015. "The Role of Subsidization and Organizational Status on Microfinance Borrower Repayment Rates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 737-748.
    13. Simon Zaby, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Microfinance: Influential Authors and Documents, 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-21, July.
    14. Sara Biancini & David Ettinger & Baptiste Venet, 2021. "When Pro-Poor Microcredit Institutions Favor Richer Borrowers - A Moral Hazard Story," CESifo Working Paper Series 8893, CESifo.
    15. 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.
    16. Emilios Galariotis & Christophe Villa & Nurmukhammad Yusupov, 2011. "Recent Advances in Lending to the Poor with Asymmetric Information," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(9), pages 1371-1390, July.
    17. Renaud Bourlès & Anastasia Cozarenco, 2014. "State intervention and the microcredit market: the role of business development services," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 931-944, December.
    18. Janda, Karel & Zetek, Pavel, 2014. "Survey of Microfinance Controversies and Challenges," MPRA Paper 56657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Rodrigo Canales, 2014. "Weaving Straw into Gold: Managing Organizational Tensions Between Standardization and Flexibility in Microfinance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-28, February.
    20. Abrego, Adriana & Guizar, Isai, 2017. "Resilience of Agricultural Microfinance Institutions to Rainfall Shocks," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258031, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    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:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:3:p:643-655. 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.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    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.