From table 5.1, what do you see as the main differences between individual lending contracts in microfinance relative to their group lending counterparts? What kinds of additional information would you want in order to draw sharper comparisons?

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Table 5.1 Financial performance comparisons by lending methodology Definition Individual Solidarity groups 1 borrower Groups of 3-9 borrowers 73 47 Village banks 10 or more borrowers per group 27 Observations Scale Number of borrowers 9,610 47,884 16,163 Average loan size $973 $371 $136 Outreach Average loan size/GNP 88 46 per capita (%) 20 20 Fraction female (%) 46 73 89 Financial performance Return on assets (%) -1.2 -4.1 Return on equity (%) 0.6 -12.5 Operational self- 121 102 -7.2 -10.7 107 sufficiency ratio (%) Financial self-sufficiency 102 89 68 89 ratio (%) Portfolio yield (real, %) 21 30 30 Portfolio at risk > 90 days 3.7 49 3.6 3.5 Efficiency Operating expense/loan 20 37 61 portfolio (%) Cost per borrower (US$) 155 93 62 Number of borrowers/ 147 155 160 total staff Number of borrowers/ 508 356 309 loan officer