Research into microfinance and ICTs: A bibliometric analysis

Aiping Liu, Elena Urquía-Grande, Pilar López-Sánchez and Ángel Rodríguez-López

Evaluation and Program Planning, 2023, vol. 97, issue C

Abstract: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an ever-increasing role in improving the efficiency, profitability, and sustainability of microfinance institutions. This paper aims to assess the role of ICTs in the microfinance industry by systematically reviewing the literature with bibliometric methods. In this research, a total of 347 samples (from 1998 to 2021) were selected from the Web of Science database according to the guideline of the systematic review. By performing descriptive statistical analysis, the contributing institutions, countries, journals, authors, as well as influential publications were identified. In the co-citation and co-word analysis section, three primary types of visualization—cluster views, timezone views and timeline viewswere all presented through CiteSpace. It turns out that crowdfunding, P2P lending and mobile banking have been the favorite topics. A central issue is the role of these platforms in entrepreneurship. We also proposed that applying fintech, especially blockchain and other emerging technologies, to promote financial inclusion is one of the future research trends. The findings of this study will be of interest to researchers, managers, policymakers, and evaluators and facilitate them to make well-informed decisions in their respective domains.

Keywords: Microfinance; Information and communication technologies (ICTs); Bibliometric analysis; Systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:epplan:v:97:y:2023:i:c:s0149718922001690

DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2022.102215

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