Microfinance Information Exchange

Publications

Free Email Newsletter

Join thousands of microfinance practitioners and industry insiders who get MIX updates via monthly email. Sign up today!

Publications

Browse our recent features by selecting one of our publications below or scrolling down the page to browse our entire feature archive.

MicroBanking Bulletin

MicroBanking Bulletin

Read features on critical microfinance industry topics written by MIX staff, microfinance practitioners and academics.

MIX Microfinance World

MIX Microfinance World

Find microfinance country, regional, and/or global analysis

Recent Features

Subscribe to All Recent FeaturesSyndicate content
MicroBanking Bulletin

Defining responsible financial performance: how to think about social performance

Date: 
June 2011
Author(s): 
Micol Pistelli

How can we define responsible financial performance?  This is the last article in a four-part series covering our current state of knowledge about the relationship between key financial and social performance indicators, produced as a prelude to the annual meeting of the Social Performance Task Force, June 19-24 in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

MicroBanking Bulletin

Defining responsible financial performance: understanding efficiency

Date: 
May 2011
Author(s): 
Adrián González

How can we define responsible financial performance?  This is part three of a four-part series covering our current state of knowledge about the relationship between key financial and social performance indicators, produced as a prelude to the annual meeting of the Social Performance Task Force, June 19-24 in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

MicroBanking Bulletin

Defining responsible financial performance: the role of profits

Date: 
May 2011
Author(s): 
Scott Gaul

How can we define responsible financial performance?  This is part two of a four-part series covering our current state of knowledge about the relationship between key financial and social performance indicators, produced as a prelude to the annual meeting of the Social Performance Task Force, June 19-24 in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

MicroBanking Bulletin

Defining responsible financial performance: how to think about growth

Date: 
May 2011
Author(s): 
Adrián González

How can we define responsible financial performance?  This is part one of a four-part series covering our current state of knowledge about the relationship between key financial and social performance indicators, produced as a prelude to the annual meeting of the Social Performance Task Force, June 19-24 in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

MIX Microfinance World

Afrique Subsaharienne 2010 Benchmarking et Analyse Du Secteur De La Microfinance

Date: 
May 2011
Author(s): 
Alexia Latortue & Audrey Linthorst

Le rapport Afrique subsaharienne 2010 Benchmarking et Analyse du secteur de la Microfinance présente les dernières tendances régionales et les récents développements dans la région à travers l’analyse d’un échantillon de 181 IMF couvrant 41 pays. Le rapport apporte dans un premier temps une vue d'ensemble du marché avec une analyse des aspects de l'offre, l'environnement politique et les flux de financements transfrontaliers.

MIX Microfinance World

Reviewing the Reserve Bank of India's Microfinance Framework

Date: 
May 2011
Author(s): 
Amarnath Samarapally, Scott Gaul

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued new regulations for microfinance providers, based on the conclusions of the Malegam Committee. Since the regulations contain several provisions that can be analyzed using public data on the sector, we take the opportunity to investigate two main components of the regulation:

MIX Microfinance World

Sub-Saharan Africa Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report 2010

Date: 
May 2011
Author(s): 
Alexia Latortue & Audrey Linthorst

The Sub-Saharan Africa Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report 2010 presents the latest regional trends and recent developments throughout the region based on a sample of 181 MFIs and spanning 41 countries.  The report begins with an overview of the market with an examination of supply side issues, the policy environment, and cross-border funding flows.

MIX Microfinance World

Анализ и сравнительные показатели микрофинансирования – 2010

Date: 
May 2011
Author(s): 
Ольга Томилова, Ралица Сапунджиева, Миколь Пистелли

Насколько же сильно отразился всемирный экономический и финансовый кризис на микрофинансовом секторе в Восточной Европе и Центральной Азии (ЕЦА)?

MIX Microfinance World

Analyse de la Microfinance et rapport comparatif dans le monde Arabe en 2010

Date: 
April 2011
Author(s): 
Charles Cordier, Micol Pistelli, Ranya Abdel-Baki & Shaimaa Zain

L'édition 2010 du Rapport Comparatif Moyen Orient Afrique du Nord (abrévié MENA pour Middle East and North Africa) présente les dernières tendances régionales fondées sur un échantillon de 37 IMF de 7 pays (Egypte, Jordanie, Liban, Maroc, Palestine, Tunisie et Yémen) ainsi que les développements les plus récents de 55 IMF arabes venant de 9 pays (Egypte, Jordanie, Liban, Maroc, Palestine, So

MicroBanking Bulletin

Risk vs. return for MFIs

Date: 
April 2011
Author(s): 
Scott Gaul

In a comment to our post on cost and profitability in microfinance, John DeWit from SEF – ZAF raised the point that some MFIs may “charge high rates but...not make high returns because of large loan write-offs.”

This presents a perfect opportunity to look at the interaction between risk, return and costs for MFIs in greater detail. The figure below shows at a glance that returns decrease when risk rises, but before looking at the data in more detail, we should look at how we measure "risk."