Commercialization and the decline of joint liability microcredit

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: de Quidt, Jonathan; Fetzer, Thiemo; Ghatak, Maitreesh
• 署名单位: Stockholm University; Stockholm University; University of Warwick; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.05.010
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 209-225
• 关键词: Microfinance; Joint liability; Commercialization; market structure

摘要

Numerous authors point to a decline in joint liability microcredit, and rise in individual liability lending. But empirical evidence is lacking, and there have been no rigorous analyses of possible causes. We first show using the well-known MIX Market dataset that there is evidence for a decline. Second, we show theoretically that commercialization-an increase in competition and a shift from non-profit to for-profit lending (both of which are present in the data)-drives lenders to reduce their use of joint liability loan contracts. Third, we test the model's key predictions, and find support for them in the data.