Microfinance literature: A sustainability level perspective survey

Since the early microcredit programs up to the present, microfinance has grown exponentially, as it has the academic interest on it as a research subject. Considering that this sector has impact in terms of sustainability, any research in the field requires an analysis with wide criteria, which should include the economic, environmental, social, and governance dimensions (EESG), as well as their interrelationships. The objectives of this survey are, to investigate the contributions of microfinance sectoral scholarly research to sustainability, through a systematic literature review using content analysis method, contextualizing the scientific production and studying its terminology according to the EESG criteria and under Global Reporting Initiative framework, and finally, to identify research gaps and to propose future research paths. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.