Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2225-8329

Microfinance Institution’s Sustainability and Mission Drift: An Empirical Review

Abul Bashar Bhuiyan, Aza Azlina Md Kassim, Md Jafor Ali, Muhammad Saad Saad, Abu Dzar Muhammad Rus Muhammad Rus

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v10-i3/7873

Open access

Since dawning as methodical approach, microfinance is termed as one of the utmost anti-poverty mechanisms which is discharging financial and associated services to underprivileged who(s) were kept at surface by conventional financial institutions. However, sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) is also imperative for sustainable economic development of the outreach and institution itself. To secure sustainability, every so often, MFIs are more accentuating on financial mission instead social mission inducing mission drift. The study aims corroborating the position of sustainability and mission drift in MFIs with the context of empirical reviews. This is a review study adopts re-examining the determinants of mission drift and its impact on sustainability of MFIs in alleviating poverty, from the course of existing and prominent research works and literatures. The study reveals that financial self-sufficiency (FSS), operational self-sufficiency (OSS), operational efficiency (OE) and wide coverage of depth and breadth of outreach warrants sustainability of MFIs and absence of subsidized fund, commercialization, higher average loan size, lack of innovations and supervisory measures, scaling up process and lower coverage of depth and breadth of outreach etc. pave the way for mission drift. We recommend that bigger outreach, vibrant and comprehensive regulatory policy, organizational commitment and true outreach base help achieving social mission as well as financial mission of MFIs.

Abdulai, A., & Tewari, D. D. (2017). Trade-off between outreach and sustainability of microfinance institutions: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 28(3), 162-181.
Abeysekera, S., Oguzoglu, U., & Le, T. T. (2014). Sustainability and mission drift: Do microfinance institutions in Vietnam reach the poor? Microfinance Institution. Springer.
Abrar, A. (2019). The impact of financial and social performance of microfinance institutions on lending interest rate: A cross-country evidence. Cogent Business & Management, 6(1), 1-21.
Abrar, A., & Javaid, A. Y. (2014). Commercialization and mission drift—a cross country evidence on transformation of microfinance industry. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 5(1), 122-125.
Amin, W., Qin, F., Rauf, A., & Ahmad, F. (2017). Impact of MFIs outreach on profitability. the
case of Latin America. Public Finance Quarterly, 62(3), 348-361.
Arena, T. (2007). Social corporate governance and the problem of mission drift in socially- oriented microfinance institutions. Colum. JL & Soc. Probs., 41, 269.
Armendariz, B., D'Espallier, B., Hudon, M., & Szafarz, A. (2013). Subsidy uncertainty and microfinance mission drift. Available at SSRN 1731265.
Armendariz, B., & Szafarz, A. (2009). Microfinance mission drift. Research Institute in Management Sciences.
Armendariz, B., & Szafarz, A. (2011). On mission drift in microfinance institutions The handbook of microfinance. World Scientific.
Arrassen, W. (2017). The determinants of MFIs’ social and financial performances in sub- Saharan Africa: has mission drift occurred? Annals of Finance, 13(2), 205-235.
Ayayi, A. G., & Sene, M. (2010). What drives microfinance institution's financial sustainability. The Journal of Developing Areas, 44(1), 303-324.
Bank, W. (2007). Finance for all? Policies and pitfalls in expanding access: World Bank.
Beisland, L. A., D’Espallier, B., & Mersland, R. (2019). The commercialization of the microfinance industry: Is there a ‘personal mission drift’among credit officers? Journal of Business Ethics, 158(1), 119-134.
Biancini, S., Ettinger, D., & Venet, B. (2019). Mission drift in microcredit: A contract theory approach. Retrieved from https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02304352/
Brau, J. C., & Woller, G. M. (2004). Microfinance: A comprehensive review of the existing literature. The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 9(1), 1-28.
Brown, M., Guin, B., & Kirschenmann, K. (2012). Microfinance commercialization and mission drift. Die Unternehmung, 66(4), 340-357.
Caserta, M., & Reito, F. (2013). Outreach and mission drift in microfinance: an interpretation of the new trend. Economics Bulletin, 33(1), 167-178.
Chaves, R. A., & Gonzalez-Vega, C. (1996). The design of successful rural financial intermediaries: Evidence from Indonesia. World development, 24(1), 65-78.
Churchill, C. F., & Frankiewicz, C. (2006). Making microfinance work: Managing for improved performance: International Labour Organization.
Churchill, S. A. (2019). Microfinance financial sustainability and outreach: is there a trade- off? Empirical Economics, 1-22. doi.org/10.1007/s00181-019-01709-1
Coleman, B. E. (1999). The impact of group lending in Northeast Thailand. Journal of development economics, 60(1), 105-141.
Copestake, J. (2007). Mainstreaming microfinance: social performance management or mission drift? World development, 35(10), 1721-1738.
Darko, F. A. (2016). Is there a mission drift in microfinance? Some new empirical evidence from Uganda. Retrieved from https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/175500/1/1603.pdf
Deb, J. (2018). Competition and commercialisation of microfinance institutions: implications for the sector. International Journal of Business Ethics in Developing Economies, 7(2), 27.
Dempsey, K. (2012). Microfinance mission drift—a study of microfinance institutions in Asia and Latin America: University of Northern British Columbia (Canada).
Dichter, T. W., & Harper, M. (2007). What's wrong with microfinance?: Practical Action Publishing Rugby.
Dillard, J., Pullman, M. E., Epstein, M. J., & Yuthas, K. (2010). Mission impossible: diffusion and drift in the microfinance industry. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 1(2), 201-221.
Dunford, C. (2000). The holy grail of microfinance:‘helping the poor’and ‘sustainable’? Small Enterprise Development, 11(1), 40-44.
Ebrahim, A., Battilana, J., & Mair, J. (2014). The governance of social enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 34, 81-100.
Esampally, C., & Joshi, M. K. (2016). Operational self-sufficiency of select NBFC-MFIS of Andhra Pradesh. SMART Journal of Business Management Studies, 12(2), 1-17.
Fletschner, D. (2009). Rural women’s access to credit: market imperfections and intrahousehold dynamics. World development, 37(3), 618-631.
Gaudens-Omer, K. T. (2018). A model of microfinance regulation in a mission drift context. Journal of Economics, 6(1), 53-62.
Getu, M. (2007). Does commercialization of microfinance programs lead to mission drift? Transformation, 24(3/4), 169-179.
Ghosh, C., & Guha, S. (2017). Efficiency and mission drift—debate revisited in Indian Context Women's Entrepreneurship and Microfinance: Springer.
Gibson, A. B. (2012). Determinants of operational sustainability of micro finance institutions in Kenya. Unpublished MBA Project.
Guntz, S. (2011). Sustainability and profitability of microfinance institutions. CAIFD-Center for Applied International Finance and Development, Research Paper, 4.
Hishigsuren, G. (2007). Evaluating mission drift in microfinance: lessons for programs with social mission. Evaluation Review, 31(3), 203-260.
Hudon, M., Labie, M., & Reichert, P. (2018). What is a fair level of profit for social enterprise? Insights from microfinance. Journal of Business Ethics, 162, 627-644.
Jha, D. K. (2017). An investigation of how changes to corporate governance in Nepalese microfinance institutions may increase outreach while maintaining their financial performance. The University of Waikato.
Jia, X., Cull, R., Guo, P., & Ma, T. (2016). Commercialization and mission drift: Evidence from a large Chinese microfinance institution: The World Bank.
Kar, A. K. (2013). Mission drift in microfinance: are the concerns really worrying? Recent cross-country results. International Review of Applied Economics, 27(1), 44-60.
Karnani, A. (2007). The mirage of marketing to the bottom of the pyramid: How the private sector can help alleviate poverty. California management review, 49(4), 90-111.
Kaur, P. (2014). Outreach and sustainability of microfinance institutions in India in pre and post Andhra Pradesh microfinance crisis in context of South Asia. Global Journal of Finance and Management, 6(6), 569-574.
Khan, W., Naz, A. D., Shah, I., Khan, F., Alam, A., & Khan, M. N. (2016). Measuring mission drift in emerging economies: An evidence from Pakistan microfinance network. J. Appl. Environ. Biol. Sci, 6(6), 20-27.
Kimando, L. N., Kihoro, J. M., & Njogu, G. W. (2012). Factors influencing the sustainability of
micro-finance institutions in Murang’a Municipality. Asian Society of Business and Commerce Research.
Kulkarni, L. (2017). Financial efficiency versus social outreach of Indian microfinance institutions: mission drift or character shift? Journal of Social and Economic Development, 19(2), 323-340.
Leon, P. (2001). Four pillars of financial sustainability: Resources for success series. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
Lopatta, K., Tchikov, M., Jaeschke, R., & Lodhia, S. (2017). Sustainable development and microfinance: the effect of outreach and profitability on microfinance institutions' development mission. Sustainable Development, 25(5), 386-399.
Macdonald, B. (2010). Redefining mission drift in microfinance: Exploring the link between aims and actions at ASA. Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 21(3), 243-254.
Mahajan, V., & Nagasri, G. (1999). Building sustainable microfinance institutions in India. Paper presented at the session on India: the emerging microfinance market. Frankfurt Seminar on New Development Finance.
Manos, R., & Yaron, J. (2008). Measuring the performance of microfinance providers: an assessment of past and present practices. International Journal of Financial Services Management, 3(2), 171-187.
Martina, D., & Karel, S. (2018). Microfinance industry: sustainability, outreach and impact. IJAME.
Martinez, M., & McKay, C. (2011). Emerging lessons of public funders in branchless banking. CGAP, 72, 1-13.
Mersland, R., & Strom, R. O. (2010). Microfinance mission drift? World development, 38(1), 28-36.
Mia, M. A., & Lee, H.-A. (2017). Mission drift and ethical crisis in microfinance institutions: What matters? Journal of cleaner production, 164, 102-114.
Morduch, J. (1999). The microfinance promise. Journal of economic literature, 37(4), 1569-1614.
Ochieng, O. B., & Odondo, A. J. (2018). Logit analysis of the relationship between interest rate ceiling and micro lending market in Kenya. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 10(8), 105-116
Okumu, L. J. (2007). The microfinance industry in Uganda: sustainability, outreach and regulation. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch.
Ometto, M. P., Gegenhuber, T., Winter, J., & Greenwood, R. (2019). From balancing missions to mission drift: The role of the institutional context, spaces, and compartmentalization in the scaling of social enterprises. Business & Society, 58(5), 1003-1046.
Pedrini, M., & Ferri, L. M. (2016). Doing well by returning to the origin. Mission drift, outreach and financial performance of microfinance institutions. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(6), 2576-2594.
Quayes, S. (2015). Outreach and performance of microfinance institutions: a panel analysis. Applied Economics, 47(18), 1909-1925.
Quayes, S., & Hasan, T. (2014). Financial disclosure and performance of microfinance institutions. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 10(3), 314-337.
Rahman, M. W., & Luo, J. (2012). Sustainability of NGO-type microfinance service provider in Shaanxi, China: Peer with Grameen Bank, Bangladesh. African Journal of Business Management, 6(15), 5319-5327.
Ranjani, K., & Kumar, S. (2018). An investigation of mission drift in Indian MFI. International Journal of Social Economics, 45(9), 1305-1317.
Rao, K. R. M., & Fitamo, T. (2014). Concepts and measures of outreach and sustainability in microfinance institutions: A comprehensive literature review. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 5(21), 41-48.
Saab, G. (2015). Micro financing and their “mission drift” orientation the MENA Region case. Procedia Economics and Finance, 30, 790-796.
Schreiner, M. (2000). Ways donors can help the evolution of sustainable microfinance organizations/comment les bailleurs de fonds peuvent-ils aider l'évolution soutenue des organisations de microfinance? Savings and Development, 24(4), 423-437.
Schreiner, M. (2002). Aspects of outreach: A framework for discussion of the social benefits of microfinance. Journal of International Development, 14(5), 591-603.
Segun, O. T. (2017). Microfinance Mission Drift In Nigeria. West African Journal of Monetary and Economic Integration, 17(1), 86-98.
Sekabira, H. (2013). Capital structure and its role on performance of microfinance institutions: The Ugandan case. Sustainable Agriculture Research, 2(526-2016-37778).
Serrano-Cinca, C., & Gutiérrez-Nieto, B. (2014). Microfinance, the long tail and mission drift.
International Business Review, 23(1), 181-194.
Tchakoute-Tchuigoua, H. (2010). Is there a difference in performance by the legal status of microfinance institutions? The quarterly review of economics and finance, 50(4), 436-442.
Tehulu, T. A. (2013). Determinants of financial sustainability of microfinance institutions in East Africa. European Journal of Business and Management, 5(17), 152-158.
Vinelli, A. (2002). Financial sustainability in US microfinance organizations: Lessons from developing countries. Replicating Microfinance in the United States, Washington DC, 2002, 137-165.
Wagenaar, K. (2012). Institutional transformation and mission drift in microfinance. University of Cambridge, Centre of Development Studies.
Wang, J., & Ran, B. (2019). balancing paradoxical missions: how does microfinance rebuild a sustainable path in poverty alleviation? SAGE Open, 9(2), 2158244019857838.
Woller, G. M., Dunford, C., & Woodworth, W. (1999). Where to microfinance. International Journal of Economic Development, 1(1), 29-64.
Wondirad, H. (2018). Competition and mission drift in microfinance: Does competition has a mission drift impact. J Bus Fin Aff, 7(324), 2167-0234.1000324.
Yaron, J. (1992). Successful rural finance institutions discussion. Washington DC: World Bank Paper.
Yunus, M., & Weber, K. (2008). Creating a world without poverty: How social business can transform our lives: Playaway Digital Audio.

In-Text Citation: (Bhuiyan, et. al., 2020)
To Cite this Article: Bhuiyan, A. B., Kassim, A. A. M., Ali, M. J., Saad, M, Rus, A. D. M. (2020). Microfinance Institution’s Sustainability and Mission Drift: An Empirical Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences. 10(3), 349-364.