Regulating Innovation in Microfinance

Katherine Hunt and Arun Kumar Kaushik ()
Additional contact information
Katherine Hunt: Ardentura Consulting
Arun Kumar Kaushik: O.P. Jindal Global University

A chapter in Economics and Finance Readings, 2024, pp 217-235 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Microfinance is a socio-financial innovation that has increased financial inclusion in the majority of countries for the past three decades. However, changing technology and demographics mean that the future of microfinance depends on innovation by microfinance institutions (MFIs) in product design, application processes, and financial operations. This paper seeks to determine how microfinance regulation directly impacts MFI innovation and, thus, the sustainability of financial inclusion in majority countries. This paper applies the results from interviews with stakeholders in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, including regulators, funders, credit bureaus, and CEOs of microfinance institutions. We propose that microfinance regulation can support long-term financial inclusion via microfinance innovation by allowing MFIs to access equity partnerships and diversified capital sources and leverage opportunities derived from the mobile banking revolution for loan repayments. This paper provides unique insight into the perspectives of key stakeholders in comparable countries, something that previous research has not considered.

Keywords: Innovation; Policy; Microfinance; Microfinance Innovation; Microfinance Policy; Financial Inclusion; Microcredit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:spr:sprchp:978-981-97-3512-9_12

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9789819735129

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-97-3512-9_12

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().