Faith-based Organizations and Microfinance: A Literature Review

Abstract

Development institutions have been categorized as faith-based and mainstream based on their background and characteristics. This paper reviews the extant literature on Faith-based Organizations (FBOs) and their role in various areas of development specially poverty alleviation through microfinance. This paper reviews the studies dealing with faith-based organizations, their characteristics and their role in development. Some papers specifically deal with the religious principles that shape the value system in these organizations. A number of empirical studies both qualitative and quantitative provide insights on the working and performance of FBOs. This review paper will be useful for the researchers involved in the areas of social science, anthropology as well as economics. The findings of the empirical studies will be of interest to policy makers and regulators.

Religion-Spirituality Influences in the Governance of Faith-Based Organizations during the Covid Pandemic

“…The multiple definitions of FBOs usually describe them as affiliated with a particular faith (Hoda & Lal Gupta, 2015 ). Despite the challenge in understanding its organizational character, given its different formats, the literature allows identifying three types of FBOs: (1) Religious Organizations (RO): they are directly linked to a superior religious institution.…”

Giving and Receiving: Faith and the Sustainability of Institutions Providing Microfinance Services for Development

“…The function and impact of FBDOs in microfinance provision has received much attention, and excellent reviews exist (e.g., [6]). A faith-based organization has been defined as "any organization that derives inspiration and guidance for its activities from the teachings and principles of the faith or from a particular interpretation or school of thought within that faith" [7] (p. 6).…”

“…to services such as health care, agricultural development and education. FBDOs often have a long-term presence in communities and often have the trust of those that they seek to help, and these provide advantages when it comes to microfinance provision [6,8,9]. But faith is also important in FBDOs, and there are global faiths such as Christianity, Hinduism and Islam that do differ in terms of their beliefs, teachings and practices [6].…”

“…FBDOs often have a long-term presence in communities and often have the trust of those that they seek to help, and these provide advantages when it comes to microfinance provision [6,8,9]. But faith is also important in FBDOs, and there are global faiths such as Christianity, Hinduism and Islam that do differ in terms of their beliefs, teachings and practices [6]. There are also "different strains of the same religious faith" [6] (p. 247), such as Catholicism and various forms of Protestantism, which can be relevant.…”

Bibliometric analysis of global research trends on microfinance institutions and microfinance: Suggesting new research agendas

“…Since the authors are using bibliometric analysis therefore, this study is different from all the normal systematic review or meta‐analysis studies due to the nature and presentation of the bibliometric analysis. For instance, some of the literature review articles, both from microfinance and microfinance institutions are obtained from previous research (Asongu & Nwachukwu, 2018; Atan & Johari, 2017; Bahoo, 2020; Hartarska & Holtmann, 2006; Hermes & Hudon, 2018; Hoda & Gupta, 2015; Karlan et al, 2014; Kim et al, 2018; Madhani et al, 2015; Marr et al, 2016; Mohammadi et al, 2019; Muhammad, 2010; Nasir, 2013; O'Malley & Burke, 2017; Orton et al, 2016; Primiana et al, 2018; Reichert, 2018; Van Rooyen et al, 2012). In contrast, this study provides hotspots such as financial technology including fintech, crowdfunding, data mining and financial literacy as emerging and new avenues for future research agenda.…”