Search results for "ACCOUNTING"

Do Powerful CEOs Have an Impact on Microfinance Performance?

2009

In this study we show that Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) with more powerful CEOs have higher performance variability. A powerful CEO is defined as one that also chairs the board of directors. CEO power is reflected in higher performance variability if CEOs have more latitude of action, i.e. managerial discretion. Managerial discretion can be limited by having stakeholder electives on the board. We find that CEO power only has an effect on MFI performance variability when there are no stakeholder electives on the board. Furthermore, we argue that CEOs in non-profit MFIs have more discretion, because their dual mission implies their CEOs are harder to control. We find that CEO power increa…

Does it (re)pay to be female? Considering gender in microfinance loan officer-client pairs

2021

This paper examines the effect of the gender combination of client-loan officer pairs on loan repayment in an Ecuadorian microfinance institution. We show that among the four possible client-loan officer gender pairs i.e. female client-female loan officer, female client-male loan officer, male client-male loan officer and male client-female loan officer, the most favourable pairs in terms of repayment are those with female loan officers whereas the least favourable are those with male loan officers. We also show that repayment is even further enhanced for all client-loan officer pairs when the client’s previous loan officer was a woman. Our findings point to relational differences between m…

Measuring microfinance performance

2015

MFIs are measured according to two dimensions. One is their outreach to poor people, that is, their ability to provide poor families access to financial services. This is the MFIs’ social mission. The other dimension is their financial sustainability, that is, their ability to pay their employees, lenders, and other suppliers, in short, their ability to produce a profit from their operations. We set out the main microfinance measures and confirm earlier findings that profitability is rather weak in microfinance, and that operational costs constitute a large part of the total costs. We argue that researchers should put more efforts into identifying the MFI’s cost drivers because social outre…

The governance of non-profit micro finance institutions: lessons from history

2009

Published version of an article in the journal: Journal of Management & Governance. Also available from Springer: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10997-009-9116-7 Microfinance is high on the public agenda, and better corporate governance has been identified as a key factor for enhancing the viability of the industry. However, recent literature on the subject struggles to identify the corporate governance mechanisms that influence the performance of the Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). Guided by stakeholder and agency theories, this paper uses a historical parallel found in savings banks to present corporate governance lessons for MFIs, particularly non-profit MFIs, today. The findings indicate…

Audit Quality and Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry

2015

This study uses a unique hand-collected sample of for-profit and nonprofit microfinance institutions from 70 developing countries to analyse the relationships between audit quality and governance mechanisms. We examine two measures of audit quality, namely, the use of Big Four auditors and the presence of internal auditors. The empirical analysis of this study reveals that these two quality metrics are highly related, although we also demonstrate that these metrics capture distinctive aspects of audit quality. In particular, the presence of internal auditors is related to other indicators of stricter governance, whereas the use of Big Four auditors is generally unrelated to other governance…

Does Religious Affiliation Influence the Design of Corporate Governance? Evidence from the Global Microfinance Industry

2017

Governance and microfinance institutions

2012

Do Powerful CEOs Determine Microfinance Performance?

2012

Recently, microfinance has been coming under public and media attacks. The microcredit crisis following from microfinance-induced suicides in 2010 in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh indicates that weak corporate governance and imprudent risk taking have far-reaching consequences. Yet, analyses of corporate governance mechanisms among microfinance institutions (MFIs) remain underdeveloped. As a response, this study examines the impact of CEO power on MFI risk taking by deriving explicit predictions of this effect from a characterization of the microfinance industry. Based on a sample of 280 microfinance institutions, our results suggest that powerful CEOs of microfinance non-governmental …

Transparency and Disclosure in the Global Microfinance Industry

2014

Over the last couple of decades, the microfinance industry has enjoyed considerable positive public attention; however, more recently, the industry has been criticized for not really “helping the poor” and practicing low standards of transparency. In this chapter we discuss how transparency and disclosure work in relation to the key stakeholders in the microfinance industry: customers, donors, and owners. We provide a framework for assessing the demand for information: the need for transparency—and the corresponding supply of information: what is disclosed. We highlight current, or potential, market failures and their implication for public policy among customers, donors, and microbank owne…

Women in management in the Arab context

2008

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the position of Arab women in management by examining the existing research on gender and management in the Arab region in order to obtain an overall picture of the advancement of Arab women in their professional lives, point out coherent clusters of research and identify knowledge gaps in existing research.Design/methodology/approachThe study conducts a content analysis of academic articles in order to provide a quantitative as well as qualitative thematic overview of the topics emerged from the literature.FindingsThe statistical analysis of researches shows that, the topic of women in management is gaining more importance. The thematic overview of researc…