Institutional context and the typology of functions of national development banks. The case of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in Malaysia

Conceived as policy institutions, development banks are specialized finan- cial firms that follow a dual mandate: to operate in line with developmen- tal goals and to be financially sustainable. At the same time, emerging literature on mission-oriented finance and development banks tends to focus on their policy roles while overlooking the overall institutional land- scape, which affects such specialized financial institutions. Following institutionalist approach, the study looks at how Malaysia’s development finance institutions (DFIs) evolved over time and how they have been positioned in the overall policy landscape. Following a historical descrip- tion of Malaysia’s specialized development banks, the study proposes a contextualized institutional framework and the typology of functions per- formed by national development banks, which can be further applied to other national contexts and especially in comparative studies.