Does the Classic Microfinance Model Discourage Entrepreneurship Among the Poor? Experimental Evidence from India

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Field, Erica; Pande, Rohini; Papp, John; Rigol, Natalia
• 署名单位: Duke University; Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.6.2196
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 2196-2226
• 关键词: maturity structure; microenterprises; constraints; returns; default; RISK

摘要

Do the repayment requirements of the classic microfinance contract inhibit investment in high-return but illiquid business opportunities among the poor? Using a field experiment, we compare the classic contract which requires that repayment begin immediately after loan disbursement to a contract that includes a two-month grace period. The provision of a grace period increased short-run business investment and long-run profits but also default rates. The results, thus, indicate that debt contracts that require early repayment discourage illiquid risky investment and thereby limit the potential impact of microfinance on microenterprise growth and household poverty.