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on Microfinance |
| By: | Roy Mersland; Samuel Anokye Nyarko; Ariane Szafarz |
| Abstract: | We study mission drift in social enterprises by examining whether these organizations stick to the actual mission enshrined in their mission statements. We use data from microfinance organizations (MFOs), a homogeneous group of social enterprises which have been scrutinized—and sometimes criticized—for mission drift. We focus on three publicly recognized and non-mutually-exclusive microfinance social missions identified by previous studies: poverty alleviation, women's empowerment, and rural financial inclusion. Based on hand-collected data from 199 MFOs worldwide, our results suggest strong coherence between social missions and actual practices. Hence, we argue that, with respect to MFOs’ own stated social missions, mission drift is no serious concern. The trustworthiness of social mission statements makes them suitable evaluation tools for social enterprises. |
| Keywords: | Mission statement; Mission drift; Microfinance; Social enterprise; Content analysis |
| JEL: | G21 G23 G28 G32 L21 O50 P36 |
| Date: | 2019–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/285367&r=all |
| By: | Haseeb Ahmed; Benjamin W. Cowan |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a difference-in-difference framework to estimate the effects of mobile money transfer technology (MMT) on healthcare usage in the face of negative health shocks. We use survey data from 2013-16 with quarterly observations on about 1,600 households of 10 villages in the Kisumu region of Western Kenya. We find evidence that MMT, likely through greater ease of informal borrowing, helps households increase utilization of formal healthcare services in terms of visits to a clinic, consultation and medication expenditures in comparison with the non-users of this technology. |
| JEL: | I13 I15 O55 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25669&r=all |