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The Determinants of Interest Rates in Microbanks: Age and Scale

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  • Nwachukwu, Jacinta
  • Asongu, Simplice

Abstract

This study investigates the legitimacy of the relatively high interest rates charged by those microfinance institutions (MFIs) which have been transformed into regulated commercial banks using information garnered from a panel of 1232 MFIs from 107 developing countries. Results show that formally regulated micro banks have significantly higher average portfolio yields than their unregulated counterparts. By contrast, large-scale MFIs with more than eight years of experience have succeeded in lowering interest rates, but only up to a certain cut-off point. The implication is that policies which help nascent small-scale MFIs to overcome their cost disadvantages form a more effective pricing strategy than do initiatives to transform them into regulated institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Nwachukwu, Jacinta & Asongu, Simplice, 2015. "The Determinants of Interest Rates in Microbanks: Age and Scale," MPRA Paper 67298, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:67298
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microfinance; microbanks; non-bank financial institutions; interest rates; age; economies of scale; developing countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative

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