Sustainability of Self-Help Groups: A Literature Review

Nishi Malhotra
Research Scholar, Finance Accounting & Control, IIM Kozhikode, Kerala, India; and is the corresponding author. E-mail: Nishim13fpm@iimk.ac.in

Pankaj Baag
Assistant Professor, Finance, Accounting & Control, IIM Kozhikode, Kerala, India. E-mail: baagpankaj@iimk.ac.in

This study aims to identify the indicators of sustainability in India's context of the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) linkage scheme. It also aims to provide an operational definition of sustainability and identify a relationship between sustainability and group outcomes. Many studies provide a conceptual definition of sustainability. However, few studies provide an operational definition to facilitate the measurement of sustainability of SHGs bank linkage in India. The systematic literature review approach using keywords has been used for analysis. From the study of the extant literature, it becomes apparent that sustainability aims to achieve the goals of financial intermediation and is beyond outreach. It ensures access to funding at an affordable cost, and thus through social capital and the network, it provides stability of performance. This leads to the achievement of financial inclusion goals such as poverty reduction. This study summarizes how SHG linkage can achieve sustainability to facilitate sustainable development. This study will add immensely to current literature in sustainable finance and challenges to inclusive banking.

Introduction
On a conceptual plane, sustainability is a broad term frequently misused in discussions on social issues such as equity, welfare, and wealth distribution. The term "sustainability" is frequently used in conjunction with systems theory and refers to the systems' or processes' long-term viability (Lele, 1993). Sustainability has been utilized to answer questions such as What, When, How, and Why in most social situations. Sustainability is defined as the ability of the system to be productive in the future. Shetty (2009) has defined sustainability as a repetition of the performance in the future. To further elaborate on the construct of sustainability, the author argues that any analysis of the term sustainability should address the following question:

• What is desired to be sustained? Is it a particular resource, process, or function in an organization?
• What is the plan to achieve sustainability over the period?
• What are the factors that impact sustainability in an organization or system?
• What is the context?

Microfinance and group lending, which have emerged as tools of rural growth and financial inclusion, are fraught with challenges about sustainability. With the rise of social finance or sustainable finance, which attempts to make a beneficial impact on the environment, society, and government through (1) Impact investment, (2) Microfinance, and (3) Value investing, there has been a shift in the way people think about money. Over 1.7 billion individuals live in poverty worldwide due to `lack of collateral and information asymmetry'; these people do not have access to traditional financing (Bhanot and Bapat, 2019). Microfinance through the SHGs linkage group provides a panacea to the financial exclusion of the unbanked and underbanked poor in India. These SHGs leverage the social capital, which substitutes the physical collateral and facilitates access to finance (Sanae, 2003). In this context, there are two different emerging constructs-financial sustainability and institutional sustainability. And the definition of this construct varies from literature to literature. Extant literature propagates that there are concerns about the financial viability of SHGs in the context of SHG linkage programs (Karmakar, 2008). The various factors affecting sustainability in the context of SHGs have been defined as lack of record-keeping, lack of a mechanism to facilitate repayment of loans, and inability to pay the due amount. Fernandes et al. (2014) defined sustainability as standardization and scaling of the banks to harness and reduce the risk of financial intermediation. Further, Rhyne (2001) highlighted that organizations will achieve sustainability through collaborative efforts and social intermediation.

Through the theoretical lens of Social Theory, Punctuated Equilibrium Paradigm, the concept of sustainability seems to be evolving gradually through relatively long periods of stability and is punctuated by more fundamental and revolutionary bursts of change. The terms 'sustainability' and 'periods' allude to the phases of equilibrium that are followed by periods of short and sudden bursts (Romanelli and Tushman, 1994). This study aims at studying the issue of sustainability of the SHGs in India through the theoretical lens of the Punctuated Equilibrium. This study will provide an operational definition of sustainability in the context of the SHGs in India. Financial sustainability and institutional sustainability of the SHGs as constructs are helpful to understand the static or constant nature of the semiformal organization structure of SHGs. Increasingly, organizations such as the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have adopted the rhetoric of sustainability. Through the lens of Dynamic Equilibrium, SHGs have been defined as a complex system that maintains a balance between the outflows and inflows of funds and between social goals and financial rate of return. The analytical questions in the context of the SHGs are: (1) What are the financial and institutional sustainability indicators? (2) What is the relationship between sustainability and financial outcomes in the form of increased income and profitability? This study will be the first-ever study to contribute towards literature by providing an operational definition of sustainability.

Research Problem
The sustainability of the SHGs is one of the biggest challenges for the self-help group bank linkage program. Most SHGs suffer from a lack of financial sustainability and institutional sustainability. Financial sustainability refers to the inability to break even and cover the cost of finance or bank loans. Institutional sustainability refers to the lack of organizational structures, systems, and processes which makes the existence of the SHGs unviable. Despite the existence of the conceptual research, existing literature does not provide adequate empirical evidence regarding the indicators and variables to measure the sustainability of the groups. This study will identify the various variables and factors that impact the sustainability of the SHGs.

Data and Methodology
Data for analysis was gathered using organizational evidence, experimental evidence, and stakeholder perspectives. Using the triangulation method, data was gathered from a variety of sources, including academic journals, papers, books, reports, monographs, and conference proceedings (Table 1). A lot of databases were used in the web search. The analysis was carried out using the PRISMA methodology. From a total of submissions of 33,500 articles, 47-43 articles were chosen. An extra filtering factor was back referencing from well-known literature and the highest citation (Figure 1).

Throughout the literature on SHG (Self-Help Group-bank linkage) scheme, common themes can be identified such financial sustainability, impact assessment, institutional sustainability, organizational sustainability, sustainability indicators, financial viability, microfinancing, self-help group, self-help group linkage.

Theoretical Lens
There are two kinds of approaches available to analyze the lack of sustainability of the SHGs. As per Robinson (2001), there are two different approaches to microfinance in India: the old paradigm that refers to the donor-based subsidized model, and the newer paradigm, which refers to sustainable finance. The author argued that this approach can be referred to as the poverty lending approach and financial system approach. As per the paper, the financial systems approach emphasizes commercial, financial intermediation, which works on the principle of sustainable finance, and the poverty alleviation approach works on the principle of social welfare and reduction of poverty. This approach prefers the social objectives over and above the financial objectives or the Return on Investment.

Further, according to Pischke (1996), the article highlighted the need to measure the tradeoff between outreach and sustainability. The author mentioned that outreach refers to the number of loans availed and sustainability refers to endurance or ability to operate with stability. Similarly, Pati (2008) in his article highlighted the importance of financial sustainability and outreach for a microfinance institution. Within the financial systems approach, the emphasis is on the commercial self-sufficiency of the entity. In this study, the authors have adopted the theoretical lens of Punctuated Equilibrium to discuss the various factors impacting sustainability in a group lending scenario.

In this study, the authors propose using the Group Development Theory and the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory. As per the model of group formation given by Bruce Tuckman, the famous psychologist, group forming comprises five stages-Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. This study has used this model for the analysis of various factors impacting sustainability. Further, the use of the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory explains the phenomenon of organizational inertia and the role of social intermediation and training in facilitating organizational or group learning, which is reflected in the form of bursts and sudden changes. Minnesota (2017) has described the five stages of group formation (Figure 2) as follows:

As per the extant literature, the first stage in the group's formation is forming, when the members come together for the first time. This is the stage of ice breaking, and there is a generally higher formality in this stage. Members in this stage try to know each other and also their roles. The second stage in group formation is storming, and during this stage, the members shed their social image and try to explore the group's power structure. After that, the members indulge in forming the rules of the game, and this stage is known as norming, which involves drafting the rules and procedures of the game. During the stage of performing, the members eventually have a shared vision and feeling of unity. This is the stage when the group has become mature, and the members worry more about the quality and productivity of the group. In the last stage, if the group is temporary, the group is adjourned.

Stages of Group Formation in Case of Self-Help Groups
The Department of Women and Child Development (2017) in their research study has discussed the various stages of formation of SHGs as Pre-Formation, Formation, Stabilization, and Growth and Diversification (Table 2). Pre-formation stage lasts for 1 to 2 months, in which poor people are identified, and the next stage is the formation stage. During the formation stage, bylaws are designed, savings are pooled, and small loans are extended to the members, and this stage lasts for 2 to 6 months. The stabilization stage comprises the bank linkages and is followed by the growth into federations and clusters. This occurs at the end of the 18 to 24 months and expansion and diversification at the end of 25 months. The research report highlights three different stakeholders' roles: NGOs (Non-Government Organizations), SHGs, and bankers as development partners (Nair, 2005). Their study has also highlighted the importance of SHG Federations, but that topic is not covered in this paper and can be an area for future research.

NGOs, SHGs and bankers are the three different stakeholders in the formation of the groups, and these members play different roles during the different phases of the formation of the group. Generally, NGOs are the entities that facilitate the exploration of business opportunities and help form the group. In some cases, NGOs can also withdraw after initial hand-holding. They can be facilitators, or they can mentor and coach. Self-help groups are the beneficiary, and initially, they are a mere observer, but afterward, they emerge as managers and self-managed entities. In the case of bankers, they share the responsibility of supervising the group's formation and then turn into financiers, collaborators and financial advisors.

Punctuated Equilibrium
Niles Eldredge put forward the Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium and Stephen Jay Gould, who propounded that evolution occurs rapidly and not gradually. As a form of organizational change, the change in the groups in initial period is static, and equilibrium remains for an extended period. In the case of the SHGs, changes are incremental due to the resistance to change. This resistance to change continues till the systems are institutionalized. As per the Punctuated Equilibrium model, revolutionary changes occur in punctuated bursts, possibly due to a crisis that shakes up the organizational structure-in Gerick's Model Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing stage repeatedly, revolutionary changes taking place in a small transitional window.

Results and Discussion
Conceptual Definition of Sustainability
Within the concept of Rural Financial Inclusion is enshrined the construct of sustainability of the financial system. Initially defined as 'stability and reliability' of the existing financial structures and processes, today, this concept has expanded and broadened to include dimensions of 'Financial and Institutional sustainability' (Bhanot and Bapat, 2019) of the financial system. This development facilitates the UN Millennium Sustainable Development Goal of poverty reduction and equitable distribution of wealth. Lele (1993) in his works argued that sustainability is a value-laden concept that includes many value judgments and analytical complications. There is a lack of measure or scale to quantify and analytically evaluate the sustainability of financial initiatives like self-help group bank linkage (Bhanot and Bapat, 2019) in their study propagated that the primary objective of self-help group bank linkage is to achieve financial intermediation. Financial intermediation (Figure 3) is the act of bringing together the borrowers and lenders of financial services. Khandkar et al. (1996) defined program sustainability as a program to carry out activities in pursuit of objectives of group lending continuously. The study highlighted the objective of the group lending program as providing access to finance to the unbanked and underbanked. For a self-help group, the objective of financial access is of prime importance, and the study highlighted it in the form of financial, economic, institutional, and borrower viability. Financial viability refers to the ability of the group to generate revenues to meet their costs and break even, and economic viability of the group refers to the impact of the group on the entire financial system. Institutional viability refers to the presence of standardized procedures and processes. It includes the management procedures and structures for incentives for the staff. As per the study, unsustainable groups are not financially viable and suffer from high cost of administration and group formation at the forming stage and loan disbursal at the stabilization stage. The author also highlighted the dependence on subsidy as one of the indicators of sustainability. Bell and Morse (2008) argued that the meaning of the construct sustainability depends on the context. Through the resource-based view lens, the author argued that an organization achieves a competitive advantage over other players and attains sustainability only if the resources are of VRIO nature, i.e., Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, and Organized.

Most of the literature highlighted that those challenges faced by groups in achieving sustainability are much beyond outreach. Karmakar (2008) highlighted that sustainability for the self-help group is graduation from microcredit to microfinance.

Operational Definition of Sustainability of Self-Help Groups
As discussed earlier, the extant literature defines sustainability through the old paradigm of poverty lending and the new paradigm of financial system approach (Figure 4). The poverty lending approach refers to the donor-based subsidy model. Robinson (2001) highlighted that after the initial period of donor or subsidy-based finance, when economic

depression took place in the 1990s, donor-based finance became unviable, and thus there was a paradigm shift towards sustainable finance. Zohir and Matin (2004) highlighted that the sustainability of the group is the prerequisite to achieve impact and is essential for the operationalization of the concept.

SHGs act as financial intermediaries to facilitate the supply of finance and funds to the micro borrowers. Lele (1993) emphasized that the sustainability of the SHGs is aimed at achieving financial intermediation. As per the literature, financial intermediation aims to enable the borrowers of the funds to meet the lenders of the funds and thus facilitate bridging the void in the microfinance markets.

Recognized as a landmark model in financial intermediation, the initiative of self-help group linkage is fraught with several challenges, including geographical concentration and lack of financial viability leading to deteriorating asset quality and loan portfolio and net performing assets for a formal financial institution. Mosley and Hulme (1998) highlighted that formal financial institution lending to SHGs faces a dilemma or a paradox in meeting social goals of providing equitable distribution of wealth or earning profits and target business to generate superior returns on investment. Zohir and Matin (2004) further highlighted that the performance of groups should be measured in terms of impact and increase in income of the households. To further elucidate the concept of impact measurement and various variables affecting sustainability, the current study aims to discuss the significant factors impacting sustainability, financial and institutional sustainability indicators, and sustainability indicators.

Microfinance is the tool to provide access to finance to the underbanked and unbanked people who do not have access to financial resources due to the lack of collateral and lack of information (Armendariz and Morduch, 2010). SHGs refer to homogenous people who come together to achieve the group goals (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, 2017). These groups have emerged as the significant instruments of microfinance and receive funding from external and internal funds. Bhanot and Bapat (2019) argued that the operationalized concept of self-help group sustainability comprises financial, organizational and institutional sustainability (Figure 5).

The extant literature provides a different definition of financial and institutional sustainability.

Financial Sustainability
Srinivasan (2010) highlighted two different aspects of financial sustainability, i.e., from the borrower and lender perspectives. From the lender's perspective, financial sustainability refers to the interest and transaction costs of lending to the poor. The study highlighted that the meaning of the term sustainability is contextual and mainly aims at ensuring continued access to services at an affordable cost with high recovery rates. In the study, the issues faced by lenders in financing these SHGs have been cited as (1) high cost of formation of groups, cost of creating awareness incurred at the group formation stage, and cost of seed capital for the group formation. Karmakar (2008) also cited the high cost of group norming as the cost of nurturing, training provision for the groups, record keeping, maintenance of records, and auditing costs. Various authors (Seibel and Parhusip, 1998) have cited that formal financial institutions find it extremely difficult to lend due to the high cost of funds and low-interest rates, leading to deteriorating asset quality and non-performing assets. Srinivasan (2010) and Bhanot and Bapat (2019) in their studies have discussed financial sustainability as the issue regarding access to financial services, intra-lending or loans from the pooled savings, interest rates on intra-lending loans, savings, social insurance. However, the study by Bhanot and Bapat (2019), emphasized the lender's perspective on financial sustainability. Pati (2008) concluded that financial sustainability is the core requirement of a robust financial program like self-help group bank linkage.

What, Why and How Approach to Financial Sustainability
Most studies have divided the discussion on financial sustainability as: (1) What factors impact financial sustainability? (2) Why are these factors essential, and how can sustainability be measured using various indicators?

What Are the Indicators of Financial Unsustainability?
Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society (APMAS, 2006) highlighted financial unsustainability as default on intra-lending and the inability of the lender to cover the cost of lending from the revenues generated. Bhanot and Bapat (2019) identified three different indicators impacting lending to the poor through the SHGs. And these three indicators are:
(1) Intra-lending, (2) Frequency of bank credit, (3) Amount of bank credit. Das and Guha (2019) mentioned indicators of financial sustainability as total savings of SHGs, borrowing of SHGs, repayment of loans of SHGs, total lending of SHGs, repayment of a loan of SHGs, total lending of SHGs, provision of loan for productive purposes and utilization of loan by the SHGs and dependence of members on SHGs. Mahapatra and Dutta (2016) highlighted that size of the loan per borrower, cost per borrower, and return or yield per portfolio impact the sustainability of the loan portfolio. Schreiner (1997) highlighted that sustainability of the groups is measured with the value of assets, saving rate, access to traditional loan and credit, higher repayment rates, social empowerment, and elimination of informal sources of finance. Ahlin and Jiang (2008) emphasized the importance of saver's graduation from microcredit to microfinance and progressive lending as an indicator of financial sustainability.

How to Measure Financial Sustainability?
Bhanot and Bapat (2019) argued that the factors impacting financial sustainability can be identified as group savings, equitable access to credit, group cohesion, paying on behalf of each other, loan utilization for income-generating activities, maintaining financial records, training and skill-building, savings and homogeneity of groups and distance from the bank. Ramakumar and Pallavi (2002), Tankha (2002) and Deininger and Liu (2009) mentioned financial sustainability as better savings, thrifts, credit creation, credit recovery, and credit rotation. In their study, Tankha (2002), Isern and Others (2007), Baland et al. (2008) and Parida and Sinha (2010) identified irregular savings, dwindling membership, rising loan default, inability to access credit, poor record-keeping, limited credit absorption capacity and excessive reliance on promoter as the factors responsible for the disintegration and break up of the SHGs. Seibel and Parhusip (1998) and Devi (2019) mentioned organizational and institutional sustainability as the frequency of attending the meeting, record keeping, development of skills and learning, and conflict resolution mechanism for the independent groups. Srinivasan (2008) highlighted that frequency of loans is the leading indicator of financial sustainability of the loan. Unless and until a group can access repeat loans or graduates to progressive lending, it cannot be called sustainable. Armendariz and Morduch (2010) highlighted that the amount of the loan is an important indicator of sustainability as it signifies progressive lending. Moreover, it signals the ability of the group to save more to fund their own loans as well. Group saving, according to Bhanot and Bapat (2019), indicated the equitable access to credit for all and also signals group cohesion. It also indicates the capacity of the group to pay on behalf of each other and provide intra group insurance, social empathy and regulation of savings. Kashyap (2008) in highlighted the importance of utilization of loans as an indicator of financial sustainability of groups. Mahapatra and Dutta (2016) provided the measures to validate the operational sustainability of the formal financing institution. However, for the purpose of the study and to adhere to the principle of parsimony, operational sustainability can be considered as an area of future research.

Institutional Sustainability
Bhanot and Bapat (2019) highlighted institutional sustainability as the group governance processes, structures, and formats that help control and monitor the group's activities. NCAER (2008) study highlighted the importance of institutional framework, design, and formats to ensure the group's sustainability. Das and Guha (2019) highlighted various factors of institutional sustainability as proper record and maintenance of books, the structure of governance and management procedure, training, frequency of meetings, and social intermediation. Shetty (2009) highlighted institutional sustainability as frequency and attendance at the meeting, record keeping, conflict resolution, skill building, and social intermediation. Tankha (2002) identified the factors impacting sustainability as the frequency of meetings, attendance, savings frequency, savings rotation, skills and leadership. Hollis and Stiglitz (1998) highlighted the relevance of formats and organization structure to promote institutional sustainability. There is another line of literature in institutional sustainability, which comprises the impact of subsidized finance on the sustainability of financial initiatives and programs (Jacob, 1992). Bhanot and Bapat (2019) highlighted the importance of institutional sustainability as organizational sustainability as group cohesion, paying on behalf of each other, risk, and business homogeneity. Group savings and group cohesion refer to the group's ability to periodically amass the pre-decided amount of contribution to the group saving corpus. Baland et al. (2008) highlighted the importance of group unity and cohesion in promoting group institutional sustainability. Verhelle and Berlage (2003) highlighted the importance of joint liability of the group and limited liability of each member as responsible for the proper functioning of the group. APMAS (2017) highlighted meetings, bookkeeping, leadership, adherence to group norms, and grading as the factors that impact institutional sustainability of the groups. Pati (2008) identified Operational Self-Sufficiency Ratio (OSSR), calculated as the ratio of Operating Expenses to the Net Profit from the Group Operation and Financial Self-Sufficiency Ratio as total expenses divided by the Net Profit from the Group Operations. Bhanot and Bapat (2019) used regression analysis to measure the impact of various sustainability indicators such as loan utilization, growth in savings, training, group size on the amount of bank loan accessed, frequency of bank loans, and intralending or loan to the group members. Intra-lending is expressed as the function of annual group savings, group cohesion, loan utilization for income generating activity, equitable access to loans, homogeneity of groups, distance from banks, and signing of financial records. Amount of bank credit accessed and frequency of loan accessed are defined as a function of joint liability or paying on behalf of each other, loan utilization in income-generating activities, growth in savings, distance from the bank, and training for skill-building.

Model for Indicators of Sustainability Through the Theoretical Lens of Punctuated Equilibrium
Through the theoretical lens of Punctuated Equilibrium, Figure 6 depicts the various factors that impact the effectiveness and efficiency of group lending. Institutional and financial sustainability have been identified as the factors impacting the effectiveness and efficiency of the group lending, respectively. Groups have four phases, which include forming, storming, norming, and performing. Financial sustainability helps increase the group's efficiency, and it can be measured using various indicators. At the group formation and storming stage, financial sustainability is impacted by the cost of seed capital and lending,

and at the stage of group norming and performing, the group is impacted by social intermediation, i.e., monitoring and training. Factors impacting financial sustainability have been identified as group composition, group homogeneity, leadership, skill building, and capital structure at the group formation stage. At the norming stage, the critical factors include debt covenants, terms of utilization of loans, terms for saving, and interest rate to be charged. Group norming is impacted by record maintenance, and performance in a group is impacted by group saving, paying on behalf of each other, loan utilization, and recordkeeping. Institutional sustainability is impacted at all the stages of group forming, storming, norming, and performing. At the group forming stage, the institutional sustainability is impacted by the decision on who performs the role of a monitor or facilitator, a decision on who will be the financier, and maintenance services regarding adherence of norms relating to bookkeeping, record keeping, frequency of meetings and attendance at the meetings.

Conclusion
From the study, it can be concluded that sustainability in SHGs is essential for achieving access to finance. Existing studies establish that sustainability is a broader concept than outreach to financial services. Impact assessment is a highly effective method to evaluate the performance of the group. This study concludes that sustainability is the ability of the group to achieve its goals through performance, which is facilitated by the institutionalization of structures and processes. There is a lack of institutional sustainability among the SHGs, which is the reason for the increasing dropout rates, break up, and delinquency of the groups. Significant financial sustainability indicators are the amount of loan, frequency of loan offtake, and informal loan size and frequency. Indicators of institutional sustainability are frequency of meetings to be conducted, preparation of record books of loans, savings, and decisions on leadership rotation.

In the 4 stages of group formation, different measures of sustainability can be identified.

1. Group Formation: Source of seed capital, type of SHPI (Self-help Group Promoting Institution).
2. Storming: Draft debt covenants or norms regarding meetings, record-keeping, the interest rate to be charged on intra-lending, saving frequency and amount, leadership, frequency of meeting.
3. Norming Stage: Consensus on group norms or Panchsutras, frequency of meeting, leadership, training required, and need for social intermediation.
4. Performing: Savings, credit frequency, credit size.

Various efficiency ratios and relative measures such as operational self-sufficiency ratios and financial self-sufficiency ratios can be used to measure financial sustainability.

Future Scope: Organizational effectiveness is emerging as an area of focus to study the impact of inclusive systems on the sustainability of the groups or organizational structure. Organizational change and adaptability have become imperative to ensure the effectiveness of the organization. Existing studies in sustainability are mainly divided into two categories: (1) Conceptual definition and constructs, and (2) Operational definition of sustainability. There is a lack of studies that provide an operational definition of sustainability and there is a lack of research on how organizational effectiveness can be achieved through training and social intermediation. SHG federations and clusters have emerged as structures to achieve economies of scale and harness scale potential. Future research can be undertaken to measure the impact of SHG Federations (Self-Help Group Federations) on the sustainability of the groups. Thus, future avenues for research include:

• Operational definition of sustainability of self-help groups.
• Organizational effectiveness through social intermediation.
• Role of Self-help group federations on the sustainability of groups.

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