Multinational banking and microfinance an analysis based on the paradigm "OLI" revisited

This working paper deals with some aspects of the internationalization of microfinance in emerging and developing countries. In several of these countries, multinational banks (MNBs) have become increasingly interested in microfinance. These banks have thus gradually become direct or indirect providers of microfinance services. We propose a two-step process for analyzing the entry of MNBs into microfinance on such foreign markets. The first step is conceptual and theoretical. We propose an original typology of modes of presence of MNBs in microfinance activity abroad. Then we analyze this issue with the help of the "Ownership-Location-Internalization (OLI) paradigm" (or "eclectic theory"). This in-depth investigation provides an appropriate framework for analyzing empirically the modes of entry of MNBS to microfinance. This empirical second step will be the subject of a complementary forthcoming development. JEL: G21, G24, F21. Key words: provision of microfinance services, multinational bank, eclectic (OLI) theory, FDI, entry on foreign banking markets. 2