Work

Win Some Lose Some? Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco

Year: 2013

Type: report

Abstract: Theory and evidence have raised concerns that microcredit does more harm than good, particularly when offered at high interest rates.We use a clustered randomized trial, and household surveys of eligible borrowers and their businesses, to estimate impacts from an expansion of group lending at 110% APR by the largest microlender in Mexico.Average effects on a rich set of outcomes measured 18-34 months post-expansion suggest some good and little harm.Other estimators identify heterogeneous treatment effects and effects on outcome distributions, but again yield little support for the hypothesis that microcredit causes harm.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w19119

Authors: Manuela Angelucci, Dean Karlan, Jonathan Zinman

Institutions: Dartmouth College, National Bureau of Economic Research, University of Michigan, Yale University

Language: English

Topic: Microfinance and Financial Inclusion

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: No poverty

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

OpenAlex ID: W3124758181

Cites: 41

Cited by: 60

Related to: 10