Health shocks and consumption smoothing in rural households: Does microcredit have a role to play?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Islam, Asadul; Maitra, Pushkar
• 署名单位: Monash University; Monash University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2011.05.003
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 232-243
• 关键词: Health shocks; Microcredit; consumption; insurance; bangladesh

摘要

This paper estimates, using a large panel data set from rural Bangladesh, the effects of health shocks on household consumption and how access to microcredit affects households' response to such shocks. Households appear to be fairly well insured against health shocks. Our results suggest that households sell livestock in response to health shocks and short term insurance is therefore attained at a significant long term cost. However microcredit has a significant mitigating effect. Households that have access to microcredit do not need to sell livestock in order to insure consumption. Microcredit organizations and microcredit therefore have an insurance role to play, an aspect that has not been analyzed previously. (C) 2011 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.