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Microfinance, the long tail and mission drift

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  • Carlos Serrano-Cinca
  • Begoña Gutiérrez-Nieto

Abstract

Poor people were excluded from financial services until microfinance institutions (MFIs) emerged. The mission of MFIs is to alleviate poverty, contributing to women empowerment especially in rural communities. Microcredits can be analyzed under Pareto’s 80/20 Principle. Their clients are situated in the long tail of the wealth distribution function. This niche market is not very attractive, because of its high administrative costs, lack of deposits and the need for compensating low revenues with fluctuating subsidies. Some MFIs have drifted from their mission. This paper presents a model to explain microfinance and mission drift, tested with hypotheses. The results from the empirical study show a pattern of mission centered MFI: a small NGO, with labor productivity, receiving donations and obtaining a high margin. The need for reducing interest rates is concluded. According to the long tail theory, this can be done through the use of efficient technology, as the e-commerce sector has achieved.

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Paper provided by ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles in its series Working Papers CEB with number 12-001.

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Length: 23 p.
Date of creation: Jan 2012
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Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/107018

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Related research

Keywords: Microfinance; financial ratios; outreach; social performance; mission drift; long tail; bankruptcy;

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  1. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1969. "Distribution of Income and Wealth among Individuals," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(3), pages 382-97, July.
  2. Ronald U. Mendoza, 2011. "Why do the poor pay more? Exploring the poverty penalty concept," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 1-28, January.
  3. Robert Cull & Asli Demirguc-Kunt & Jonathan Morduch, 2009. "Microfinance Meets the Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 167-92, Winter.
  4. Suman Ghosh & Eric Van Tassel, 2008. "A Model of Mission Drift in Microfinance Institutions," Working Papers 08003, Department of Economics, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University.
  5. Beatriz Armendariz & Ariane Szafarz, 2009. "On Mission Drift In Microfinance Institutions," Working Papers CEB 09-015.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  6. Copestake, James, 2007. "Mainstreaming Microfinance: Social Performance Management or Mission Drift?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1721-1738, October.
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