American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Credit Elasticities in Less-Developed Economies: Implications for Microfinance
American Economic Review
vol. 98,
no. 3, June 2008
(pp. 1040–68)
Abstract
Policymakers often prescribe that microfinance institutions increase interest rates to eliminate their reliance on subsidies. This strategy makes sense if the poor are rate insensitive: then microlenders increase profitability (or achieve sustainability) without reducing the poor's access to credit. We test the assumption of price inelastic demand using randomized trials conducted by a consumer lender in South Africa. The demand curves are downward sloping, and steeper for price increases relative to the lender's standard rates. We also find that loan size is far more responsive to changes in loan maturity than to changes in interest rates, which is consistent with binding liquidity constraints.Citation
Karlan, Dean S., and Jonathan Zinman. 2008. "Credit Elasticities in Less-Developed Economies: Implications for Microfinance." American Economic Review, 98 (3): 1040–68. DOI: 10.1257/aer.98.3.1040Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G21 Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- O16 Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance