IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ajaees/357373.html

A Comprehensive Review of Microfinance Impacts, Sustainability and Outreach

Author

Listed:
  • Rahman, M. Wakilur
  • Luo, Jianchao
  • Hafeez, A. S. M. Golam
  • Sun, Tongquan

Abstract

This study reviews peer reviewed journal articles on microfinance impacts, sustainability, and outreach over the period 1997 to 2011. The review suggests mixed results on the impacts of microfinance worldwide, and fails to discover a concrete relationship between outreach and sustainability. However, the review confirms microfinance institutions extend financial and non-financial services to the bottom of the pyramid ignored by traditional financial institutions and considered un-bankable. The paper contributes to extant microfinance literature and guides inexperienced microfinance practitioners toward further academic research and publishing their work in relevant journals.

Suggested Citation

  • Rahman, M. Wakilur & Luo, Jianchao & Hafeez, A. S. M. Golam & Sun, Tongquan, 2015. "A Comprehensive Review of Microfinance Impacts, Sustainability and Outreach," Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, vol. 6(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ajaees:357373
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/357373/files/Rahman622015AJAEES16513.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Goetz, Anne Marie & Gupta, Rina Sen, 1996. "Who takes the credit? Gender, power, and control over loan use in rural credit programs in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 45-63, January.
    2. Hartarska, Valentina & Nadolnyak, Denis, 2008. "An Impact Analysis of Microfinance in Bosnia and Herzegovina," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2605-2619, December.
    3. Atiur Rahman & Abdur Razzaque, 2000. "On Reaching the Hardcore Poor: Some Evidence on Social Exclusion in NGO Programmes," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 26(1), pages 1-35.
    4. Maldonado, Jorge H. & González-Vega, Claudio, 2008. "Impact of Microfinance on Schooling: Evidence from Poor Rural Households in Bolivia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2440-2455, November.
    5. Mark M. Pitt & Shahidur R. Khandker & Omar Haider Chowdhury & Daniel L. Millimet, 2003. "Credit Programs for the Poor And the Health Status of Children in Rural Bangladesh," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(1), pages 87-118, February.
    6. Coleman, Brett E., 2006. "Microfinance in Northeast Thailand: Who benefits and how much?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1612-1638, September.
    7. Matthieu Chemin, 2008. "The Benefits and Costs of Microfinance: Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 463-484, April.
    8. Sharma, Manohar & Zeller, Manfred, 1999. "Placement and Outreach of Group-Based Credit Organizations: The Cases of ASA, BRAC, and PROSHIKA in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(12), pages 2123-2136, December.
    9. Hudon, Marek & Traca, Daniel, 2011. "On the Efficiency Effects of Subsidies in Microfinance: An Empirical Inquiry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 966-973, June.
    10. Hulme, David, 2000. "Impact Assessment Methodologies for Microfinance: Theory, Experience and Better Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 79-98, January.
    11. Chaves, Rodrigo A. & Gonzalez-Vega, Claudio, 1996. "The design of successful rural financial intermediaries: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 65-78, January.
    12. Signe-Mary McKernan, 2002. "The Impact Of Microcredit Programs On Self-Employment Profits: Do Noncredit Program Aspects Matter?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 93-115, February.
    13. Anderson, C. Leigh & Locker, Laura & Nugent, Rachel, 2002. "Microcredit, Social Capital, and Common Pool Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 95-105, January.
    14. Rahman, Aminur, 1999. "Micro-credit initiatives for equitable and sustainable development: Who pays?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-82, January.
    15. Gwendolyn Alexander Tedeschi, 2008. "Overcoming Selection Bias in Microcredit Impact Assessments: A Case Study in Peru," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 504-518, April.
    16. Jere R. Behrman & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2002. "Does Increasing Women's Schooling Raise the Schooling of the Next Generation?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 323-334, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Hisaki KONO & Kazushi TAKAHASHI, 2010. "Microfinance Revolution: Its Effects, Innovations, And Challenges," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 48(1), pages 15-73, March.
    3. Maren Duvendack & Richard Palmer-Jones, 2012. "High Noon for Microfinance Impact Evaluations: Re-investigating the Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(12), pages 1864-1880, December.
    4. Paul A. Onyina & Sean Turnell, 2013. "The Impacts Of A Microfinance Lending Scheme On Clients In Ghana," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 5(2), pages 79-88.
    5. Chliova, Myrto & Brinckmann, Jan & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2015. "Is microcredit a blessing for the poor? A meta-analysis examining development outcomes and contextual considerations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 467-487.
    6. Theresa Mannah-Blankson, 2018. "Gender Inequality and Access to Microfinance: Evidence from Ghana," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 20(2), pages 21-33.
    7. Protap Kumar Ghosh & Sutap Kumar Ghosh, 2017. "Gender Disparity in Functionality and Consequence of Microfinance: Does it Function Currently?," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 7(2), pages 164-174, February.
    8. Namizata Binaté Fofana & Gerrit Antonides & Anke Niehof & Johan Ophem, 2015. "How microfinance empowers women in Côte d’Ivoire," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1023-1041, December.
    9. Duvendack, Maren & Palmer-Jones, Richard, 2011. "The microfinance of reproduction and the reproduction of microfinance: understanding the connections between microfinance, empowerment, contraception and fertility in Bangladesh in the 1990s," MPRA Paper 32384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. N’Guessan, Marie Noëlle & Hartarska, Valentina, 2021. "Funding for BOP in Emerging Markets: Organizational Forms and Capital Structures of Microfinance Institutions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    11. Shahriar Kabir & Bindu Prashad Kairy & Mirza Kainath Ashrafi Khusbu, 2024. "Microcredit versus Child Schooling Nexus: Exploring Child Schooling Decisions in Rural Bangladesh (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 63(2), pages 185-202.
    12. F. Meier zu Selhausen & E. Stam, 2013. "Husbands and Wives. The powers and perils of participation in a microfinance cooperative for female entrepreneurs," Working Papers 13-10, Utrecht School of Economics.
    13. Masud Ahmed, Syed & Chowdhury, Mushtaque & Bhuiya, Abbas, 2001. "Micro-Credit and Emotional Well-Being: Experience of Poor Rural Women from Matlab, Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1957-1966, November.
    14. Vu Ha Thu & Daisaku Goto, 2020. "Does Microfinance Improve the Household Welfare of Ethnic Minorities? Evidence from Bac Kan Province, Vietnam," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 20(1), pages 65-83, January.
    15. Maria Porter, 2016. "Effects of microcredit and other loans on female empowerment in Bangladesh: the borrower's gender influences intra-household resource allocation," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(2), pages 235-245, March.
    16. Jennifer De la Cruz, 2024. "Regional Financial Development and Micro and Small Enterprises in Peru," Documentos de Trabajo / Working Papers 2024-532, Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    17. Erhardt, Eva Christine, 2017. "Microfinance beyond self-employment: Evidence for firms in Bulgaria," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 75-95.
    18. Wan Nurulasiah binti Wan Mustapa & Abdullah Al Mamun & Mohamed Dahlan Ibrahim, 2018. "Economic Impact of Development Initiatives on Low-Income Households in Kelantan, Malaysia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-17, July.
    19. Hermes, Niels & Lensink, Robert, 2011. "Microfinance: Its Impact, Outreach, and Sustainability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 875-881, June.
    20. Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Alyssa Cyrielle B. Villanueva & Lovely Tolin & Sabrina Disse & Robert Lensink & Howard White, 2025. "Effects of Interventions to Improve Access to Financial Services for Micro, Small, and Medium‐Sized Enterprises in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries: An Evidence and Gap Map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(3), September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    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:ags:ajaees:357373. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journalajaees.com/index.php/AJAEES/index .

    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.