Abstract:
Microfinance has gained significant attention as a social innovation, offering flexible and low-cost financial services to households who are otherwise excluded from formal financial services. Over the years, numerous research works have expanded the knowledge base of microfinance. Applying bibliometrics, we summarise findings from 1599 articles published between 1987 and 2022. Our performance analysis reveals insights into the research trend, including its geographical distribution, the theories under examination, and the most influential publications. More importantly, the knowledge foundation and thematic analysis categorize microfinance research into three broad themes, viz. impact of microfinance, management of microfinance and performance and efficiency of microfinance. Furthermore, we trace the evolution of various research topics and forecast future trends using periodical average publication years over time. This study, therefore, serves as a valuable reference in microfinance research both for new researchers and seasoned academics, as well as policymakers, providing insights into research trends, seminal works, and future directions.
摘要:
小额信贷作为一项社会创新已经获得了广泛的关注,向被排除在正规金融服务之外的家庭提供灵活和低成本的金融服务。多年来,许多研究工作扩大了小额信贷的知识库。应用文献计量学,我们总结了1987年至2022年间发表的1599篇文章的发现。我们的绩效分析揭示了对研究趋势的见解,包括它的地理分布,正在研究的理论,和最具影响力的出版物。更重要的是,知识基础和主题分析将小额信贷研究分为三大主题,viz.小额信贷的影响,小额信贷管理与小额信贷的绩效和效率。此外,我们追踪各种研究主题的演变,并使用定期平均出版年份预测未来趋势。这项研究,因此,为新研究人员和经验丰富的学者提供小额信贷研究的宝贵参考,以及政策制定者,提供对研究趋势的见解,开创性的作品,和未来的方向。