Do Subsidies Enhance or Erode the Cost Efficiency of Microfinance? Evidence from MFI Worldwide Micro Data
Do Subsidies Enhance or Erode the Cost Efficiency of Microfinance? Evidence from MFI Worldwide Micro Data
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发表时间：
2012-03
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通讯作者：
F. Mieno;Hisako Kai
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作者：
F. Mieno;Hisako Kai
小额供资文献中最近的一个问题是，如果没有补贴作为竞争政策或商业化进程的先决条件，小额供资机构在财政上是否可持续。虽然最近的一些研究已经提出了相关的理论框架，但实证分析却很少。使用金融数据的小额信贷机构在面板上的1791观察2003-2006年，我们估计的小额信贷机构的成本函数和措施的效率低下，使用随机前沿成本方法，然后检查补贴的影响，经营年龄和其他可能的因素作为效率的决定因素。我们发现，补贴通常不会阻碍成本效率，相反，它们通常被用来提高成本效率。我们还发现，补贴对效率的影响是更大的年轻的小额金融机构，这表明，这些机构的补贴有效地用于加强初始技术投资或人力资源开发。调查结果与强调补贴对小额供资机构发展初期的重要性的论点相一致，但与补贴一般损害小额供资机构财务可持续性的说法部分矛盾。
A recent issue in the microfinance literature is whether microfinance institutions (MFIs) are financially sustainable without a subsidy as a prerequisite for competition policy or commercialization processes. Although some recent studies have proposed relevant theoretical frameworks, empirical analyses are scarce. Using financial data for MFIs across a panel of 1791 observations for 2003-2006, we estimate a cost function for the MFIs and a measure of inefficiency using the stochastic frontier cost approach, and then examine the effects of subsidies, operating age and other possible factors as determinants of efficiency. We find that subsidies are generally not an impediment to cost efficiency; instead, they are generally utilized to improve cost efficiency. We also find that the effect of a subsidy on efficiency is larger for younger MFIs, suggesting that subsidies for these institutions are effectively utilized for intensifying initial technology investment or hu man resource development. The findings are consistent with the arguments that stress the importance of subsidies for the initial stage of development of MFIs, and partially contradictory to the claims that the subsidies generally erode MFIs’ financial sustainability.