Data from Sustainable Microfinance as a Transforming Knowledge Domain: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review

Abstract

Sustainable microfinance has evolved from a poverty-alleviation instrument into a multidimensional development tool that integrates financial inclusion, social outcomes, and environmental sustainability. However, research in this domain remains widely dispersed across separate strands of microfinance, green finance, and sustainable finance, limiting a comprehensive understanding of how these dimensions interact. This study addresses this gap by conducting the first integrated bibliometric and systematic review of sustainable microfinance, analysing 137 articles published between 1999 and 2025 in Web of Science and Scopus. Using a mixed-method design that combines bibliometric mapping with qualitative synthesis, the study reconstructs the conceptual evolution of the field and identifies its intellectual and thematic structure. The results reveal three stages: an initial welfarist phase focused on poverty reduction and women’s empowerment; an institutionalist phase emphasising financial self-sufficiency and operational efficiency; and a recent sustainability-oriented phase that incorporates environmental responsibility, governance quality, and digital transformation. Emerging themes include climate-risk management, renewable energy financing, environmental performance of MFIs, gendered impacts, knowledge-based financial inclusion, and the role of institutional capacity in shaping developmental outcomes. From a development perspective, the findings show how sustainable microfinance intersects with climate vulnerability, persistent inequalities, digital divides, and governance challenges. Despite this progress, important gaps remain regarding theoretical integration, cross-country comparability, the measurement of environmental and social outcomes, and the long-term effectiveness of green and gender-oriented interventions. Overall, the review positions sustainable microfinance as a promising but under-theorised domain with substantial potential to support inclusive, climate-resilient, and gender-responsive development pathways. It proposes a future research agenda grounded in multidimensional and context-sensitive approaches.