Do Islamic microfinance institutions affect the socio-economic development of the beneficiaries? The evidence from Turkey

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the effect of Islamic microfinance on poor households through the case of the IKSAR Qard al-Hasan Program in Turkey. To achieve this aim, it examined the changes in the socio-economic status of beneficiaries before and after the program. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts the convergent parallel mixed method design. It conducted two surveys to micro-entrepreneurs: the first is when they received the loan and the second is when they finished their installments. In addition to the longitudinal data obtained from these two surveys, qualitative data were collected by participant observation and interview technique with visiting these people periodically throughout the interest-free loan (qard al-hasan). Findings - According to the results obtained from the analysis of the pre- and post-surveys, a statistically significant increase of 35% was experienced in the monthly household income after receiving theqard al-hasanloan compared to before. Similarly, a statistically significant increase was found in the monthly expenditures of 23 out of 30 households after receiving theqard al-hasan. Originality/value - There are two originalities of this study. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first research that examines the only Islamic microfinance program in Turkey. Second, it uses longitudinal data while examining the impact of Islamic microfinance on the welfare of the poor. In the relevant literature, no study has been identified that uses longitudinal data in Islamic microfinance. Similarly, a limited number of longitudinal studies examine the impact of conventional microfinance institutions on the poor.