Online crowdfunding holds the promise of empowering entrepreneurs and small businesses as an innovative alternative financing channel. However, doubts have been expressed as to whether online crowdfunding can deliver its promise because of the lack of empirical evidence regarding its effects. In this study, we investigate the effects that prosocial crowdfunding has on traditional microfinance institutions (MFIs). Combining multiple data sources, including data from Kiva.org and the Microfinance Information Exchange Market (MIX Market), we examine how access to crowdfunding influences MFIs’ sustainability and interest rates. We find that after joining Kiva, MFIs’ sustainability improves and interest rates decrease. Further investigation suggests that the changes mainly result from efficiency improvement, rather than increased supply of low-cost funds. We propose that joining an online crowdfunding platform induces greater transparency and crowd monitoring, which motivates and empowers MFIs to improve operations and become more efficient.

中文翻译：

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小额信贷机构众筹：新希望？

在线众筹有望使企业家和小企业成为一种创新的替代融资渠道。然而，由于缺乏关于其影响的经验证据，人们对在线众筹能否兑现其承诺表示怀疑。在这项研究中，我们调查了亲社会众筹对传统小额信贷机构 (MFI) 的影响。结合多个数据源，包括来自 Kiva.org 和小额信贷信息交换市场 (MIX Market) 的数据，我们研究了众筹渠道如何影响小额信贷机构的可持续性和利率。我们发现，加入 Ki​​va 后，小额信贷机构的可持续性提高，利率下降。进一步调查表明，这些变化主要来自效率的提高，而不是增加低成本资金的供给。我们建议加入在线众筹平台可提高透明度和人群监控，从而激励和授权小额信贷机构改善运营并提高效率。