Mission Drift and Scale: An Empirical Analysis of Indian Micro Finance Institutions

Abstract

Studies have found that a small scale of operations could limit the firm performance since they do not enjoy economies of scale. Since the microfinance industry is focused on provision of financial services to the poor, performance is measured both from a social as well as financial perspective. As firms increase their scale of operations, their social performance needs to be on par with their financial performance. To measure the effect of scale on performance, we use data from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) market consisting of 245 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) covering a period of 21 years from 1999 to 2019. The dependent variables are outreach, efficiency, and financial performance. The control variables are age and the regulatory status of the firm. We find that while factors like financial performance, client retention, and measures of operational efficiency are dependent on scale; they come at the cost of outreach. The pursuit of economic goals by large MFIs seems to hamper their ability to reach the poorest and/or most needy clients, implying mission drift. This study thus draws the attention of policy makers to the importance of supporting small MFIs to survive and continue to address the social goals of MFIs.