Performance of microfinance institutions: do board activity and governance ratings matter?

This article aims to empirically verify the relationship among board activity, governance rating scores, and the financial performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The study comprises a sample of 215 MFIs rated by Planet Rating between 2003 and 2009. The findings, obtained after controlling for endogeneity and selection biases, suggest that board activity and governance rating scores are associated with profitability. In addition, the study of the moderating effect of legal status reveals a significant difference of the effect of governance rating score and CEO/Chairman duality. In view of the results, it seems difficult to conclude definitively that the legal form of MFIs has a moderating effect on their financial performance. The existence of a moderating effect and thus validation of the thesis that shareholder-based MFI governance systems would be more effective than nonprofit MFIs depends on how governance is measured. The results are robust to other measures of financial performance and to the functional form of board activity.