Legitimacy spillovers and hybrid rhetoric in crowdfunded microloans

Abstract

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) operate in diverse institutional contexts and serve as the backbone for microenterprises typically excluded from traditional financial markets. At the same time, MFIs and the microenterprises they support solve tangible social problems, such as alleviating hunger, lifting people out of poverty and creating more sustainable communities. When appealing for resources, MFIs work with microenterprises to create rhetoric that communicates both the financial needs and the social good that supporting them can do. Building on previous research concerning the hybrid rhetoric of microenterprises and the literature rooted in organisational legitimacy, we take a multi-level approach and assess whether country stability and MFI financial performance influence the hybrid rhetoric of microenterprises.