Efficiency Analysis of Microfinance Institutions in Developing Countries
Networks Financial Institute Working Paper 2009-WP-12
22 Pages Posted: 22 Oct 2009
Date Written: October 1, 2009
Abstract
This paper investigates technical and scales efficiencies of microfinance institutions (MFI) in three regions: Latin America countries, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, and South Asia countries, and compares efficiencies across regions and across type of MFIs. We find that technical efficiency is higher for formal MFIs (banks and credit unions) than non-formal MFIs (nonprofit organizations and non-financial institutions). Furthermore, South Asian MFIs have higher technical efficiency than Latin American and MENA MFIs. The source of inefficiency is pure technical rather than scale, suggesting that MFIs are either wasting resources or are not producing enough outputs (making enough loans, raising funds, and getting more borrowers).
Keywords: Poverty, Microfinance Institutions, Efficiency Analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis, Government Policy
JEL Classification: C14, G29, L31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation