News

At CERSEM we are very proud these days. On Thursday 13th of December two of our PhD students successfully defended their theses. We are also very thankful to FAHU foundation for funding their studies. Stephen Zamore and Kwame Djan, both from Ghana, have been brilliant students finishing their theses in only three years. Stephen has now been hired by us in a postdoc position. Kwame is in the job market so let us know if you are hiring. Both Stephen and Kwame have already published several interesting studies like this one by Stephen on whether it is beneficial for MFIs to integrate nonfinancial in their business models https://lnkd.in/dcD7bG8 and this one by Kwame on whether Christian MFIs are governed differently than secular MFIs https://lnkd.in/g4vZFBB.   Let us also take the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas. Stay posted in 2019 for more news from the Center for Research on Social Enterprises and Microfinance. Best wishes, Professor Roy Mersland Director CERSEM Director PhD program School of Business and Law University of Agder, Norway https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Roy_Mersland

In the second paper, published in Strategic Change we observe that the capital structure of the MFIs varies a lot. Some have easy access to international funding while others struggle in getting into international investors’ pockets. At the same time, some MFIs are strong in mobilizing local deposits while others are weak. In this paper, we look at the experience of the CEO and how this influence the capital structure of the MFI. Check it out: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327229255_Capital_structure_and_CEO_tenure_in_microfinance_institutions

The first, published in International Business Review, is about the geographical and cultural distance between MFIs and their international partners. We observe that MFIs have lots of international partners. In this paper, we study whether it matters from where the international partners come from.

Are some partnerships more effective than other partnerships?

Check it out:  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327624142_The_Performance_Impact_of_Informal_and_Formal_Institutional_Differences_in_Cross-Border_Alliances_The_Case_of_the_Microfinance_Industry

Dear research colleague
I kindly remind about the following call for papers for our Oslo research workshop:

• Organizers: Oslo Business School at Oslo Metropolitan University and CERSEM at the University of Agder, Norway
• Topic “The Business and Finance of Microfinance”.
• Place and time: Oslo, Norway, 27-28 September 2018
• We aim at creating a special issue in a well-known finance journal for publication of the best papers from the workshop.
• Only 20 papers will be accepted for presentation. The main selection criteria is the scientific quality of the paper. Unpolished working papers are fine as long as they have potential to become a top publication.
• All papers must be of interest to the microfinance community as well as for a wider community of finance and banking scholars.
• Scientific committee: Niels Hermes (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Roy Mersland (Director CERSEM, University of Agder, Norway) and R. Øystein Strøm (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway).
• Send your paper to  oystein.strom@hioa.no
• Submission deadline: June 15, 2018.

CERSEM scholars already publish in finance journals. For example, check out:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260250774_Female_leadership_performance_and_governance_in_microfinance_institutions

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257211782_Scale_economies_and_input_price_elasticities_in_microfinance_institutions

CERSEM is pleased to announce a new research project on Savings Groups: Identifying Micro and Macro-Economic Determinants of Success of Savings Groups: A Global Analysis Using the ‘Savings Groups Information Exchange’. With funding from FAHU Foundation and in cooperation with the microfinance group VSL Associates, this initiative aims to advance the empirical knowledge on savings groups worldwide through the analysis of the Savings Groups Information Exchange (SAVIX) database, which contains information on nearly 200000 savings groups in 50 countries around the world.

Linda Nakato                                                                          Rolando Gonzales

Two astounding PhD students, Linda Nakato and Rolando Gonzales, are currently working on this project under the supervision of PhD Prof. Roy Mersland (University of Agder) and PhD Prof. Bert D’Espallier (KU Leuven).

Dear research colleague

Please share widely the full call for papers found here:  Oslo workshop

Summary of the call:

• Organizers: Oslo Business School at Oslo Metropolitan University and CERSEM at the University of Agder, Norway
• Topic “The Business and Finance of Microfinance”.
• Place and time: Oslo, Norway, 27-28 September 2018
• We aim at creating a special issue in a well-known finance journal for publication of the best papers from the workshop.
• Only 20 papers will be accepted for presentation. The main selection criteria is the scientific quality of the paper. Unpolished working papers are fine as long as they have potential to become a top publication.
• All papers must be of interest for the microfinance community as well as for a wider community of finance and banking scholars.
• Scientific committee: Niels Hermes (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Roy Mersland (Director CERSEM, University of Agder, Norway) and R. Øystein Strøm (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway).
• Send your paper to oystein.strom@hioa.no
• Submission deadline: June 15, 2018.

CERSEM scholars already publish in finance journals. For example, check out:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260250774_Female_leadership_performance_and_governance_in_microfinance_institutions

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257211782_Scale_economies_and_input_price_elasticities_in_microfinance_institutions

Best wishes,

Professor Roy Mersland

Director CERSEM

Director PhD program

School of Business and Law

University of Agder, Norway

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Roy_Mersland

 

 

 

We are pleased to introduce our new Ph.D. candidate Marit Kringlen  https://www.uia.no/en/kk/profil/marikr11.  Marit is from Norway and she holds a Master of Science from the University of Agder. With Marit on board CERSEM initiates a new project:

Financial Auditing of Social Enterprises

While the auditing literature is rich, limited research has been done on auditing of firms with both social and financial objectives. Marit’s first project will explore the connection between audit quality and access to donations. She will work closely with Professor Leif Atle Beisland and Professor Roy Mersland.

The new research project complements our recently accepted paper in the International Journal of Emerging Markets: “Use of Big Four auditors and fund raising – Evidence from developing and emerging markets”. In this paper, we answer the question: “Is there a relationship between the use of high-quality international auditors and access to debt funding for Microfinance Institutions?”.

Have a look at our results here

Muluneh Hideto Dato will defend his Ph.D. thesis «Essays on corporate governance in microfinance” Thursday 2 February 2018 at 12:00 p.m.

Brief captivating summary of the thesis by Muluneh Hideto Dato:

Corporate governance in microfinance institutions

Corporate governance has been a mainstream concern and a staple of discussion in academic and policy circles. Over the past two decades, a large body of research has documented both the importance and the impacts of corporate governance.

Read the information here

This is the question we seek to answer in our most recent study published in Journal of Small Business Management. We use data from Microfinance Institutions and document that only 18% of hired CEO have been recruited internally. Nevertheless, the statistical results suggest that MFIs with internally recruited CEOs perform better compared to institutions with externally hired CEOs. The findings are consistent with the view that insider CEOs have firm-specific skills, experience, and network resources that are needed when managing complex organizations like social enterprises.”

Please see the full text of the very latest paper here

Remember: Your paper for the special issue must be submitted between the 1^st and the 31^st of January 2018

We are seeking conceptual, theoretical and empirical (both quantitative and qualitative) papers that advance the state of knowledge on internationalization of social enterprises including international issues on microfinance. View the full call for papers here

Please submit your paper here