Microfinance

The Results are in on Microfinance

In the past this magazine has been critical of microfinance per se, and particularly of claims that it is a panacea for social development. Now, in what is one of the first credible studies on the subject, the Poverty Action Lab has published the results of a multi-year study “The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a randomized evaluation” (hat tip PSD Blog and Tim Ogden).

The authors conclude in their randomized trial of 52 (of 104) slums in India:

We show that the intervention increased total MFI borrowing, and study the e¤ects on new business starts, investment, and consumption. Households with an existing business at the time of the program invest in durable goods, and their profits increase. Households with high propensity to become business owners see a decrease in nondurable consumption, consistent with the need to pay a fixed cost to enter entrepreneurship. Households with low propensity to become business owners see nondurable spending increase. We find no impact on measures of health, education, or women’s decision-making.

There are several interesting results to be gleaned for this summary, but just as many questions.

Testing the Enterprise Hypothesis

The first interesting result is that microfinance seems to encourage, or at least enable, commercial enterprise. According to the survey the presence of microfinance helps to “create and expand businesses” amongst a subset of current or “likely” entrepreneurs. However, amongst the rest of the population, it tends to increase non-durable consumption.

The last part of this result is not surprising as anecdotal evidence has long suggested that microfinance works also to smooth consumption. What is surprising, however, is the high density of entrepreneurs in the target communities. A full 31% of households run a very small business – compared to the OECD average of 12%. This may seem counter-intuitive. Then again, the opportunity cost of poor households becoming entrepreneurs is extremely low, which may explain this result.

Testing the Development Impact

The survey also tests the impact on development indicators and finds no impact whatsover on health or education. While the MF as a tool for development argument has long ago been dropped by most serious MF proponents, this undermines it further. That said, as the authors note, it may be too early to conclude that microfinance does not enhance social outcomes. Rather, “after a longer time, when the investment impacts have translated into higher total expenditure for more households, it is possible that impacts on education, health, or womens’ empowerment would emerge.”

Open Questions

Unfortunately, the study seems to leave open several questions – and the report is missing several critical pieces of information.

First, it seems 69% of households in the baseline have outstanding loans at an average rate of 3.85% per month. What is the average loan amount and rate charged after the Spandana intervention and do loan rates come down? A key criticism of MFIs has been that loan rates seem to remain stubbornly high – is that true?

Second, what is the percentage of population that are likely entrepreneurs. In other words does microfinance, on balance, lead to greater enterprise or greater non-durable consumption?

Finally, and most important, the study says nothing about the failure rate of businesses. In the baseline, 30% of households have a business. Just how many of these still exist at a later point in time? Similarly, how many of the entrepreneurs that borrow, succeed?

This point is particularly relevant if you consider that existing businesses seem to register an increase in business profits of up to INR 5,000 – a 600% maximum rate of return in some cases. Such returns cannot be had without substantial risk, a monopoly, or some other market imperfection. So, where is the catch?

Conclusion

This survey is worth reading simply because it is the first real study on the impact of microfinance. It is interesting in that the results are intuitive – credit in the BoP world seems to work similar to how it works in the developed world. Responsible and entrepeneurial individuals use it to start businesses or save for the future. But many others use it to live beyond their means and may end up in a debt trap.

That said, the survey is also interesting in what it does not reveal about microfinance. While the inconclusive evidence on human development indicators can simply be a matter of time, it is a tangential issue. At the core of microfinance today, is its value proposition as a business incubator. There are as many questions on microfinance as a business itself that must be answered.

© 2009 The Discomfort Zone.