| dc.description.abstract | This paper examines the link between information and communications technology and microfinance performance. Information and communications technology, or ICT, could potentially provide a breakthrough for microfinance in terms of increasing its accessibility while also helping microfinance become more sustainable and self-sufficient. We used measures such as operational self-sufficiency and average interest rate to measure MFI (microfinance institution) performance. We used number of mobile phone subscriptions, number of telephone subscriptions, internet usage data, and fixed broadband data to measure information and communications technology capital. Data on macroeconomic indicators such as real GDP growth, inflation, and labor force participation were included to control for a country’s macroeconomic performance. We obtained a time series dataset including microfinance data, information and communications technology data, and macroeconomic data starting from the year 2000 throughout 2013 which includes annual data for each country in the regression. We found that ICT variables have a significant impact on reducing operating costs for MFIs as well as increasing average loan size and decreasing the average interest rate charged per loan. | en |
