Norms and Values of the Various Microfinance Institutions

Marek Hudon

No 08-006.RS, Working Papers CEB from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: This article studies the role of norms and values in the microfinance sector. Microfinance projects implemented in India use a wide range of different organizational structures. A classification of the sector is proposed, mapping the institutions along two axes: the profit motive (profit vs. not-for-profit) and the decision making style (centralized vs. un-centralized). Some Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) base their interactions on rigid norms or rules; while others are based on values. We argue that the private sector will tend to produce the operating rules of the microfinance system while the not-for-profit institutions that are using an inclusive decision-making process are more likely to influence the ethical norms in the sector. Nevertheless, this classification is not static as recent events in South-India shows that norms, such as the interest rates, can be politically and emotionally invested to the point that they are about to become values in the sector.

Keywords: microfinance; norms; values; India; inclusive (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 p.
Date: 2008
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-mfd and nep-soc
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published by:

Downloads: (external link)
https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/5394 ... ol_wpaper_08-006.pdf RePEc_sol_wpaper_08-006 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sol:wpaper:08-006

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://hdl.handle.ne ... ulb.ac.be:2013/53946

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers CEB from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Benoit Pauwels ().