Arbeitspapier

Behavioral foundations of microcredit: Experimental and survey evidence from rural India

Microcredit is an innovative financial tool designed to reduce poverty and fix credit market imperfections. We use experimental measures of time discounting and risk aversion for villagers in south India to highlight behavioral features of microcredit. Conditional on borrowing from any source, women with present-biased preferences are more likely than others to borrow through microcredit institutions. Microcredit contracts require loan repayments in regular, fixed installments and they harness peer pressure to encourage discipline. These innovations mirror mechanisms highlighted in behavioral approaches to saving, suggesting that microcredit's popularity stems partly from modes of encouragement and self-discipline absent in typical lending mechanisms.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 4901

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Field Experiments
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡
Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
Thema
Time preference
hyperbolic discounting
self-control
loan contracts
microfinance
Mikrofinanzierung
Zeitpräferenz
Wirtschaftspsychologie
Verhalten
Ländlicher Raum
Karnataka
Indien

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Bauer, Michal
Chytilová, Julie
Morduch, Jonathan
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
(wo)
Bonn
(wann)
2010

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Bauer, Michal
  • Chytilová, Julie
  • Morduch, Jonathan
  • Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Entstanden

  • 2010

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