The Microfinance Business Model : Enduring Subsidy and Modest Profit

Cull, Robert ; Demirguc-Kunt, Asli ; Morduch, Jonathan

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: microcredit;    microfinance;    implicit subsidy;    poverty;    cost-benefit analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7786
RP-ID  :  WPS7786

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Recent evidence suggests only modestsocial and economic impacts of microfinance. Favorablecost-benefit ratios then depend on low costs. This paperuses proprietary data on 1,335 microfinance institutionsbetween 2005 and 2009, jointly serving 80.1 millionborrowers, to calculate the costs of microfinance and otherelements of the microfinance business model. It calculatesthat on average, subsidies amounted to $132 per borrower,but the distribution is highly skewed. The medianmicrofinance institution used subsidies at a rate of just$26 per borrower, and no subsidy was used by the institutionat the 25th percentile. These data suggest that, for someinstitutions, even modest benefits could yield impressivecost-benefit ratios. At the same time, the data show thatthe subsidy is large for some institutions. Counter toexpectations, the most heavily-subsidized group of borrowersis customers of the most commercialized institutions, withan average of $275 per borrower and a median of $93.Customers of nongovernmental organizations, which focus onthe poorest customers and women, receive a far smallersubsidy: the median microfinance nongovernmentalorganization used subsidy at a rate of $23 per borrower, andsubsidy for the nongovernmental organization at the 25thpercentile was just $3 per borrower.