DETERMINANTS OF BORROWER DROPOUT IN MICROFINANCE: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION IN MALI

Repeat borrowing is critical for the long-term financial viability of microfinance institutions (MFIs), which provide financial services to low-income households in developing countries. Repeat borrowers reduce MFI administrative costs, lower risks, and increase institutional productivity. In this paper we study the determinants of borrower dropout of an MFI operating in an urban center in Mali. Specifically, we quantify the explicit and implicit costs that a borrower must incur in obtaining loans from an MFI.Financial Economics,

Reducing the Transaction Costs of Financial Intermediation: Theory and Innovations

Transaction costs for financial transactions are often high in developing countries. Borrowing costs are large for small loans. The costs of mobilizing, lending, and recovering funds are high for financial institutions. Attention has increasingly been placed on measuring transaction costs and identifying ways to reduce them. The first section of this paper presents a conceptual framework of transaction costs for financial transactions. Empirical evidence is then summarized from several transaction costs studies of both financial institutions, and depositors and borrowers. The next section includes a discussion of ways to reduce transaction costs including examples drawn from several developing countries. The following section outlines some ways that donors can work to reduce transaction costs. A final section summarizes the paper

The World Council of Churches: A Theological Appraisal

Throughout the history of the divided Church there have been earnest efforts to reunite the separated communions. The impetus for such a reunion usually was strongest in a period either of prosperity or of opposition. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the Church experienced an era of revivalism and expansion, and shortly the former confessional boundaries were ignored, and in spite of divergent doctrinal views denominations united in organizing the several national Bible Societies and large Missionary Associations. When shortly afterwards a wave of secularism swept over the world, the various communions again set aside their confessional differences and organized the Evangelical Alliance ( 1846) to meet jointly the common foe

The Determinants of Bank Deposit Variability: A Developing Country Case

This paper reports on an analysis of deposit variability in the branch banking system of Bangladesh. As expected, deposit variability is greatest for small, rural branches. It declines with increases in branch size, the share of long-term fixed deposits, and number of types of deposits in a branch

The Economics of Sharecropping in NE Brazil

Exact date of working paper unknown