Auteur(s) : Charrier, Albane
Directeur : Menu, Sabine
Composante : EMS
Date de création : 30-06-2013

Description : International and European Business, Financial institutions have proven the possibility of providing reliable microcredits to poor customers. Their second objective is to do so in a commercially-viable way. This work analyzes the challenges of financial institutions’ social responsibility as microcredit embraces the market, drawing on a data set that includes 12 financial institutions from Africa, South Asia and Latin America and covers nearly 6 million active borrowers. The data show that microcredit can be granted on the basis of socially responsible processes, reach clients in rural areas through well-designed service points, and serve female borrowers without necessarily establishing targeting efforts. But the data also suggests that poor socially responsible policies may weaken microcredit’s core objective, have no significant impact if financial inclusion is not sought as a primary objective, and worsen clients’ financial conditions if institutions do not offer complementary non-financial services to accompany borrowers in their emancipation. Those institutions often charge their customers high interest rates but also face particularly high transaction costs, in part due to small loan sizes. Innovations to overcome asymmetric information, efficiency and transparency problems in microcredit activities are needed to strengthen social responsibility within financial institutions’ processes and results.
Mots-clés libres : Responsabilité sociétale, International and European Business, Microcredit, Social Responsibility, Poverty Alleviation, Process, Transparency, RSE, microcrédit, lutte contre la pauvreté, transparence du processus, 650 Gestion et organisation de l'entreprise
Couverture : FR