Assessing the Performance Profiles of Microfinance Institutions: New Insights into the Management of their Double Bottom-Line

Isabelle Piot-Lepetit ()
Additional contact information
Isabelle Piot-Lepetit: UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Microfinance institutions (MFIs) deal with a double bottom-line and often strive to maintain a balance. This paper investigates a network of MFIs that serves poor populations in rural Cameroon, and explores the link between MFI performance and the network structure, by means of the contingency and fit theories and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach.By looking at the organizational design of the network and the double bottom-line management issue of its MFIs, results show that the most performing efficient MFIs require less control from the network management team and are important contributors to the exploration of new solutions and services, while dealing with a trade-off regarding their social activity. On the contrary, MFIs that have recently launched their activity and need more supervision from network managers greatly benefit from the exploitation of knowledge available within the network, while dealing with a trade-off as regards their financial activity. Between those two extremes, MFIs are deploying their activity with a balanced double bottom-line. Transitory imbalances can therefore be considered as opportunities for exploration, by sustaining performance and fostering growth within the network, thus opening new insights into how observed trade-offs between the financial and social activities of MFIs should be considered.

Keywords: Microfinance Institutions; Fit theory; Data Envelopment Analysis; Performance; Organizational Structure; Contingent Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04717804v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Ana Paula Matias Gama; Mário Augusto; Ricardo Emanuel Correia; Fábio Duarte. Microfinance: Intervention in challenging contexts, Springer, 2024, 978-981-97-5387-1

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:hal:journl:hal-04717804

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().