An Empirical Study of Urban Credit Cooperatives in China

The overall objective of this study is to try and uncover to what extent the borrowing and lending pattern of Chinese urban credit cooperatives (UCCs) leads them to conform to the theoretical view of credit cooperatives and to what degree they are mainly characterized by elements which result from their regulatory environment and the status of China as an economy in transition. We provide evidence from a specially-commissioned survey on the characteristics and functioning of UCCs. Our statistical and econometric analysis points to the tentative conclusion that there are major regional differences in the performance of UCCs both in terms of the quality of loans granted and overall profitability. The latter is also influenced by the quality of the loans made, and this in turn is affected by the number of directors in the UCC and the extent to which the UCC grants loans to state-owned enterprises.     

从印度危机反思小额贷款的高利率盈利模式

印度小额信贷危机震惊了全球,唤醒了人们对高利率盈利模式的反思。近年来,印度小额贷款利率持续上升并维持于高位——而极高的利率并非基于成本和风险的考虑——挤出经营性贷款需求——借款人因无力偿债而引发社会危机。危机表明,高利率的小额贷款只会为其经营者带来持续的高利润,而借款人的生计则陷入不可持续的困境。中国小额信贷起步较晚,但在利率问题上存在同样盲区。高利率在中国同样难担脱贫之任,低收入者的希望是支付得起的低利模式,即信贷的互助合作。     

Pursuing efficiency: a data envelopment analysis of MFIs in Latin America

This article analyses the overall profitability efficiency (PE) of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Latin America. The PE of each MFI in the study is broken down into two components: pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. One data envelopment model is used to analyse each component. Each MFI was labelled as either a bank, cooperative and credit union, nonbanking financial institution or non-governmental organization, and then the analysis was performed on each separate group. The results suggest that, on average, banks are the most efficient MFIs; while NGOs are, on average, the least efficient MFIs. On average, all 4 groups are more pure technically efficient than scale efficient. Banks, nongovernmental organizations, nonbanking financial institutions, cooperatives and credit unions all seem to have problems with scale efficiency. Many MFIs seem to be operating on the increasing returns to scale frontier and are in a more favourable position for expansion.     

Farmers’ organizations and sustainable development: An introduction

This special issue features 14 new research papers investigating the role of farmers’ organizations (e.g., collective action, self-help groups, producer companies/organizations, and cooperatives) in supporting sustainable development. The key findings include: (1) farmer groups and cooperatives promote farmers’ adoption of good farm management practices, new agricultural technologies and sustainable farming practices, although not substantially improving farm yield; (2) outsourcing services provided by agricultural cooperatives help to increase the technical efficiency of crop production; (3) cooperative membership enhances members’ bargaining power and enables them to sell their products at higher prices; (4) cooperatives motivate rural laborers to work in off-farm sectors, while self-help groups empower rural women in decision-making; (5) internet use improves agricultural cooperatives’ economic, social, and innovative performances; (6) direct administrative intervention supporting cooperative development may lead to the emergence of shell cooperatives; (7) participation in forest farmer organizations enables wood value chain upgrading; (8) increasing the cooperative size in terms of income, equity, and assets increases the profitability of savings and credit cooperatives; and (9) creating cross-border cooperation between cooperatives generates benefits for all parties involved. These findings can inspire the design of policies aimed to support farmers’ organizations in achieving sustainable development goals.     

Can microcredit reduce vulnerability to poverty? Evidence from rural Vietnam

Extant literature has extensively explored microcredit's impacts, confirming its essential role in poverty alleviation. However, most studies focus on poverty measures that exclusively emphasize current poverty status without adequately addressing the potential of falling into or remaining in poverty. Furthermore, the role of credit services in helping the poor in rural areas appears to be underexamined in the literature. To address this knowledge gap, this study investigates whether rural microcredit can reduce household vulnerability to poverty. A theoretical framework is developed to capture the mechanism by which microcredit borrowing has a vital role in household businesses and impacts the probability of being poor in the future. The Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey data set from 2008 to 2016 is used to explore this issue. The findings indicate that rural Vietnam's access to microcredit significantly reduces vulnerability to poverty. Moreover, better-off households are seemingly the most effective at using microcredit, whereas the opposite is found among worse-off households. These results are found to be robust using the propensity score matching method.     

民间金融的独特形式--合会

合会作为一种重要的民间金融形式,在中国有着悠久的发展历史,但国内学术界对于这种草根金融的关注甚微.本文通过对中国合会的实地调查,尤其以温州地区合会的发展为主线,介绍了合会的运行模式、种类、发展历史,并结合国外文献对合会的研究经验,概括了合会的特点、主要功能、存在的问题.随着中国加入WTO组织后对金融开放承诺期的临近,利率市场化改革应声而起,如何有效地引导和改造合会等民间金融也提上了日程,笔者希望通过本文的介绍,能够引起国内对这种草根金融的重视,从而加强对中国合会内部机理的研究,为完善正规金融体系和招安民间金融奠定理论基础.     

Microfinance and gender empowerment

In this paper, we develop a theoretical model of household production, bargaining and credit to analyse how access to microcredit affects intra-household decision-making and welfare, and identify conditions under which female household members are most likely to benefit. We show that, consistent with ethnographic accounts of the impact of microcredit programmes on poor households, access to loans can lead to a variety of outcomes for intra-household decision-making and welfare depending on initial conditions and that, in some instances, women borrowers may experience a decline in welfare. We identify two instances in which a woman is most likely to benefit: when there is scope for investing the loan profitably in a joint activity, and when a large share of the household budget is devoted to household public goods.     

The impact of microcredit on self‐employment profits in Vietnam

This study examines the impact of microcredit on household self‐employment profits in Vietnam. For two indicators of credit participation – a dichotomous participation dummy and the accumulated amount of microcredit received per household – the analysis reveals a positive effect on household profits. The analysis also reveals that an instrumental variable method within a fixed‐effects framework can control for the possible endogeneity of credit and thereby identify the true effect of credit.     

Impact of microcredit on borrowers’ expenditures: a fuzzy regression discontinuity design approach

This article uses the data from 69 villages in Bangladesh to estimate the effect of participation in microcredit programmes on household expenditures. A regression discontinuity design (RDD) is used to identify the credit effect. Our results show heterogeneous treatment effect on different types of expenditures. We show that access to credit reduces per capita expenditure on durable goods such as kitchen equipment, furniture, repair and maintenance of house and increases the expenditure on per school-going child. We also show insignificant impact of access to credit on non-durable goods and health care, recreation and gifts. Interestingly, our results indicate a positive impact of microcredit on village-level expenditures.     

农村信用社票据业务存在的问题及解决对策

为适应商品经济的快速发展,近年来,各地农村信用社票据贴现业务蓬勃兴起。该业务的发展不仅使农村信用社的信贷资产多元化,改变了以往农村信用社资产业务单一的状况,而且也为农村信用社提供了新的利润增长点,实现了货币资源的有效配置。但目前,农村信用社的票据业务,无论是在票据的签发、承兑上,还是在贴现、转贴现和再贴现上,都受多种因素制约而表现为发展滞后。一些农村信用社为扩大该类业务的规模,在办理这项业务时存在业务操作不规范现象,影响汇票的承兑结算,易造成风险隐患。为防范和控制票据业务风险,就票据贴现业务开展过程中存在的问题进行具体分析,并提出了相应解决方法。     

Microcredit,Labor, and Poverty Impacts in Urban Mexico

Improved household accessibility to credit is a significant determinant of intra‐household allocation of labor resources with important implications for productivity, income, and poverty status. However, credit accessibility could also have wider impacts on poverty if it leads to new hires outside the household. This paper contributes to the existing literature on microcredit in two important ways. First, it investigates the routes through which microcredit reaches those in poverty outside the household. We test whether by lending to the vulnerable non‐poor microcredit can indirectly benefit poor laborers through increased employment. Second, we conduct the study in the context of urban poverty Mexico. This is relevant when considering that labor often represents the only source of livelihoods to the extreme urban poor. Our findings point to significant trickle‐down effects of microcredit that benefit poor laborers; however, these effects are only observed after loan‐supported enterprising households achieve earnings well above the poverty line.     

浙江小额信贷融资创新的现状分析

小额信贷是当前国内银行业普遍关注的议题,浙江走在金融创新的前列。简介小额信贷在国内外的发展概况,从制度创新、业务创新和信用创新三方面详述小额信贷融资创新的"浙江模式"现状,就其内涵进行了综合评析。     

基于现金流模型的农村小额贷款风险分析

试图对乡镇村等农村地区小额贷款的现状进行考察,通过对农信社的基本运营模式和其现金流通过程进行建模处理,以及进行相应的风险评估和若干问题分析,得出关于农信社这种当今在农村地区最为普遍的小额贷款模式健康与否的相关结论,从而进一步对其可能的发展方向进行预测,并继续关注这一现象的最新发展。     

Typologie des coopératives de crédit espagnoles par la méthode des groupes stratégiques. Une étude empirique

The objective is to apply the Strategic Groups approach to the sub-sector of credit cooperatives, organizations on which Strategic Groups analysis has not been applied yet although they are part of the banking sector. Therefore taking into account the theoretical arguments presented on SG, the authors apply them according to the following stages: identification of the group of banking organizations composing the object of the study (in this case, credit cooperatives) while analysing their main characteristics; choice of the subset of banking organizations forming the analysed sample; determination of key strategic variables to define credit cooperatives' strategies; and application of the research methodology using factorial Analysis in conjunction with Cluster Analysis, in order to identify the strategic groups forming the subset of credit cooperatives in Spain. Contrarily to what happened in other European countries where cooperative banks have an important place in the banking system, the strategic divergences between the different types of credit cooperatives hinder the integration of this sector in Spain. This strategic weakness calls for adoption of cooperation strategies by the different types of existing credit cooperatives.     

Determinants of microcredit repayment in Portugal: analysis of borrowers,loans and business projects

Microcredit programs in Portugal represent a unique case for studying the microcredit repayment determinants in a developed country, as it experienced a financial hardship in 2008–2009, with economic and social consequences that led to unemployment crisis. This research examined the determinants of microcredit loan repayment based on a sample of 752 microcredit loans granted in Portugal by the National Association for the Right to Credit, adopting individual lending mechanisms and granting loans through partnerships with several credit institutions. This is the first study to ascertain the influence that a set of factors – grouped into three categories: borrowers’ individual characteristics; loan characteristics; and characteristics of business projects implemented by borrowers – has on the repayment ability of microcredit programs, in a developed country of the Eurozone. Moreover, this is the first study using an ordered logistic regression (OLR) in estimating the determinants of microcredit loan repayment. Similar to previous studies, married borrowers tend to repay loans faster as they tend to be more responsible than single borrowers. Nationality seems to be an issue as foreigners tends to default the repayment loans. Finally, those involved in manufacturing activities perform better than those involved in service activities in repaying their loans. This clearly indicates that in developed countries special attention needs to be provided to minority groups as well as market/supply conditions, which are not normally considered in less favored economic countries.     

Winners and losers from financial derivatives use: evidence from community banks

This article provides empirical evidence on how profitability of small community banks was affected by derivatives use before and after the 2008 crisis. We use an endogenous switching regressions model to estimate the sensitivity of bank profitability to risks and control for the endogenous choice to use or not to use derivatives. We then compute counterfactual effects and show how profitability would have looked without derivatives use for banks that used derivatives and how it would have looked with derivatives for banks that did not use derivatives. The results show that derivatives helped reduce the sensitivity of profitability to credit risks and improved profitability for most specialists. However, for the largest number of banks which are non-user non-specialists, devivates use would have resulted in lower return on assets had they used derivatives post 2008. Therefore, our evidence suggests that implementation of the Volcker Rule, imposing high compliance costs on community banks and, thus, discouraging hedging, may have a negative impact on profits of specialists banks but, overall, a neutral effect on profits in the community banks industry as a whole.     

Pursuing efficiency while maintaining outreach: Bank privatization in Tanzania

Profitability improvements after the privatization of a large state-owned bank might come at the expense of reduced access to financial services for some groups, especially the rural poor. The privatization of Tanzania's National Bank of Commerce provides a unique episode for studying this issue. The bank was split into the “new” National Bank of Commerce, a commercial bank that assumed most of the original bank's assets and liabilities, and the National Microfinance Bank, which assumed most of the branch network and the mandate to foster access to financial services. The new National Bank of Commerce's profitability and portfolio quality improved although credit growth was slow, in line with the privatization experiences in other developing countries. Finding a buyer for the National Microfinance Bank proved very difficult, although after years under contract management by private banking consultants, Rabobank of the Netherlands emerged as a purchaser. Profitability has since improved and lending has slowly grown, while the share of non-performing loans remains low.     

银行效率的决定因素：跨国实证

本文基于1990—2009年间68个主要国家和经济体的面板数据，从管理效率、市场竞争性和盈利能力三个基本方面对影响一国银行业效率的相关因素进行了实证分析。实证结果表明：从宏观经济政策来看，保持宏观经济的持续稳定增长，稳步推进资本账户开放，将有助于提高一国银行业的整体效率；从银行产业发展来看，银行业效率的提高需要在保持适度资产规模和产业集中度的基础上，防止银行信贷的过度扩张和银行危机的发生；从制度文化发展来看，加强产权保护，促进社会信用文化水平的提升，将有助于一国银行业效率的整体提升。     

农村信用社与农村经济增长关系的实证分析

对农村信用社与农村经济增长之间关系的实证研究表明,农村信用社的发展对农村经济持续增长具有极大的促进作用.针对农村信用社发展中面临的问题,应进一步改革农信社的股权结构、强化农信社的退出机制、有效协调对农信社的监管等,以促进农信社的健康发展.     

Profit‐maximizing behaviour replaces social sanctions in urban microcredit marketsThe case of Italian MAGs1

Poor local information networks and weak social sanctions in urban settings make joint liability unable to guarantee high repayment rates to microlenders. Yet, microcredit programmes in Western Europe report good performance even if the majority of them require no collateral. We collected data from three Italian microcredit institutions which operate in urban areas, granting individual loans without collateral to single entrepreneurs and teams (associations and cooperatives). We found that teams repay with higher probability. On this basis we developed a microlending instrument which, like joint liability implemented in rural economies, mitigates informational problems but, unlike joint liability, fits the urban context in that it reproduces a cohesion among entrepreneurs based on profit‐maximizing behaviour and not on social capital.