Scientific Publication

Are Financial and Social efficiency mutually exclusive ? A case study of Vietnamese Microfinance Institutions

author(s) Lebovics, M. - Hermes, N. - Hudon, M.
from UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
permalink open
themes
regions
  • South-Eastern Asia
  • Asia
  • World
citation

Lebovics, M. , Hermes, N. and Hudon, M. (2016). Are Financial and Social efficiency mutually exclusive ? A case study of Vietnamese Microfinance Institutions . Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 87: 55-77

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Abstract

A major debate in microfinance focuses on the existence of a trade‐off between the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their outreach to poor clients. This paper adds to this debate by analyzing whether financial and social efficiency are mutually exclusive in a context of implicit subsidies by the state and international donors. We use data from a sample of 28 Vietnamese MFIs and apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to identify the existence of a trade‐off. This is an output from the ‘Delivering Inclusive Financial Development and Growth’ project

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