Accessibility to microcredit by Chinese rural households

This paper examines the factors influencing the accessibility of microcredit by rural households in China. The empirical analysis utilises logistic regression, with data collected through a household survey carried out in one province in China. A total of twelve household-level factors are identified as determinants in households’ access to microcredit, including educational level, household size, income, among others. In addition to these, results indicate that rural households’ accessibility to microcredit can also be impaired by the supply-side factors (e.g., interest rates, loan processing time). The empirical analysis establishes a positive relationship between households’ credit demand and access to credit. The paper thus concludes that households should be encouraged to raise capital requirements (for example, create investment opportunities in on/off farm activities) to increase their demand for credit, which can enhance their access to microcredit. In addition, microcredit institutions (such as the Rural Credit Cooperatives) should improve their lending schemes and micro loan products to better suit the diversified needs of the rural population.     

The link between credit markets and self-employment choice among households in rural China

Our paper examines how credit markets operate through wealth to influence households’ entrepreneurial choices. Our results show that policy-led bank branch withdrawal in rural China has a significant negative impact on credit availability to rural households, though unexpectedly the effect is felt more strongly in informal than formal credit markets. Furthermore, we observe that self-employment is impeded by reductions in wealth associated with credit contraction. Policies which provide more and better formal financial services to rural households are predicted to increase the flow of credit, through both formal and informal channels, thereby supporting accumulation, diversification, and economic growth.     

Impact of Credit Accessibility on the Earnings of Self-employed Businesses in India

The study assesses the impact of credit accessibility on the earnings of self-employed small businesses in India. Using unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises survey data provided by National Survey Sample Organisation (NSSO) on the Indian economy for the year 2015-16, the paper shows that access to credit augments earnings of self-employed businesses. The paper also separately shows the impact of credit availed from formal and informal lending agencies on self-employment earnings. Interestingly, we observe that both these lending agencies have a positive impact, even though the terms and conditions are not favourable in the informal market. Based on our findings we suggest for creation of informal-formal credit linkage programme akin to that of SHG bank linkage programme in which enterprises that do not possess accessibility to formal sources due to absence of collateral can also get formal credits through informal lenders at favourable terms and conditions.     

MICROFINANCE PENETRATION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CREDIT CHOICE IN INDONESIA: EVIDENCE FROM A HOUSEHOLD PANEL SURVEY

This paper studies empirical determinants of how heterogeneous households are matched to different types of loan products in a credit market in Indonesia. A unique situation arose when a microfinance institution launched operations in our survey area during the survey period, and we utilized its market entry for conducting mixed logit analysis of households’ credit choices. Time-varying choice sets help us identify parameters regarding preferences for various credit attributes. Our results show that the new availability of small-scale loans without collateral requirement greatly increases households’ probability of obtaining credit overall. Households in self-employed business prefer formal credit as a stable financing source but are impeded in receiving it when they locate in a rural area, probably because of large transaction costs. The poorest households, however, might not be able to exploit new credit opportunities as much as richer households, even if the scale of credit is very small.     

Microdata Evidence on the Bank Lending Channel in the Netherlands

This study contributes to the empirical evidence on the lending channel in the Netherlands using individual bank data. The main conclusion is that a lending channel is operative in the Netherlands. However, it is only operative for unsecured lending and not for secured lending, possibly because loans with government guarantees get special treatment by banks. Effects of monetary tightening on unsecured lending are more negative for smaller, less liquid and less capitalised banks, in line with the lending channel theory. The contribution of this study is that it gives evidence that the monetary policy impact on bank lending also depends on the market segment in which a bank is active. The evidence suggests that the policy impact is weaker on credit to households than it is on lending to firms.     

Participatory Product Design by Using Conjoint Analysis in the Rural Financial Market of Northern Vietnam

Analyzing secondary and primary data (collected in 2001–2002), this paper suggests a shift in national development policies from solely promoting rural credit to supporting local savings activities. The household data (N = 260) are econometrically analyzed applying conjoint analysis (CA) methodology. The CA gave valuable insights into how to improve outreach of formal financial institutes (FFIs) by adapting the credit products to client preferences and revealed an un-attended demand for savings instruments. Due to the enormous credit outreach of the FFIs in Vietnam, it would be more efficient to launch a credit consolidation policy and to implement a reliable and sustainable deposit collection system at the village level. However, within national policymaking, a paradigm change must take place and the capability of rural households to save needs to be recognized by policy-makers.     

Formal and informal rural credit in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam: Interaction and accessibility

This paper examines the factors influencing rural households’ access to credit in the Vietnamese market. Analysis confirms an interaction effect between informal and formal credit sectors in which informal credit positively influences accessibility to microcredit programs. Ignoring this interaction effect may lead to microcredit providers making loan decisions that are less than optimal. In the formal credit sector, the lowest income group faces more credit rationing than other groups, despite the fact that microcredit programs are designed to target households at the bottom of the income pyramid. Results demonstrate that land holding status, informal interest, and informal loan duration are important factors influencing access to informal credit. Factors influencing microcredit accessibility include local government employee status, credit group membership, a “poor” certificate, educational attainment, working skills and village road access. To reduce reliance on informal credit and improve microcredit accessibility, rural households should actively participate in a microcredit group.     

Are poor able to access the informal credit market? Evidence from rural households in China

The poor are often excluded from formal credit markets, but few empirical studies in literature have investigated whether the poor are constrained in the informal credit market. This paper uses recent micro data of rural China to answer this question. An instrumental variable model is estimated to account for potential endogeneity issues. Results show that poorer households have lower probability of entering the informal credit market. Further examination shows that the poor are limited by social network and that they have no financial means to invest in their social capital to expand their social network. Our findings shed light on potential solutions of reducing poverty in rural areas.     

数字金融如何影响农户正规信贷需求？——来自CHFS的证据

基于2015—2019年中国家庭金融调查数据和北大数字普惠金融指数,构造面板数据,使用面板Probit模型、工具变量法和机制检验模型实证检验数字金融对农户正规信贷需求的影响。研究发现,数字金融显著提高了农户生产性正规信贷需求和消费性正规信贷需求的概率。进一步研究发现,数字金融主要通过促进金融知识积累进而提高家庭生产性正规信贷需求,对消费性正规信贷需求的促进作用则通过数字支付渠道实现。     

Household Financial Savings Mobilisation: Empirical Evidence from Uganda

Panel data are used to examine household savings behaviour inUganda and the part that is played by formal financial institutionsin mobilising those savings. We show that the probability ahousehold will acquire a deposit instrument from a financialinstitution increases significantly for both rural and urbanhouseholds with improvements in several factors. Those factorsinclude the level of information that is made available to thehousehold, the degree of household access to the financial institution,the level of education of the head of household and the densityof financial institutions in the area where the household islocated. Among those households that report holding bank savingsdeposits, the level of net deposits is positively influencedby increases in the availability of credit facilities, lowertransaction costs (as reflected by the quality of financialservices provided by the institution) and higher permanent income.Relatively higher real rates of return on physical assets andhigher transaction costs (due to reduced accessibility) bothhave significant negative effects on the level of net depositsheld by households.     

互联网普及如何影响中国家庭债务杠杆率

互联网技术的普及推动了数字金融、移动支付、金融科技等一系列金融创新的发展,基于此,文章利用中国家庭金融调查（CHFS）2017年的数据,细致探讨了互联网这一最基础的技术普及与家庭债务杠杆率的关系及内在作用机理。结果发现：（1）互联网的使用将显著推高家庭的债务杠杆率。在使用工具变量回归、处理效应模型与PSM匹配纠正内生性问题后,这一结论依然成立。（2）除通过促进电子支付、增加金融可及性外,互联网的使用还将通过提高信息搜寻与增强社会互动这两种渠道而带来家庭债务杠杆率的累积。（3）互联网的使用与家庭债务杠杆率间存在显著的非线性关系,即意味着只有当对互联网的使用达到一定程度后,其才会带来家庭债务风险。（4）对于受需求型信贷约束、低收入与中老年群体,互联网使用对这类群体债务杠杆率的影响程度更大。进一步地,除网络平台借款将推高家庭债务杠杆外,文章还考察了互联网的使用对民间借贷的影响,并发现其对家庭非正规借贷杠杆率的影响更为突出。而对于金融知识欠缺的家庭,其债务杠杆率更高。这说明,在鼓励使用互联网推动家庭参与金融市场的同时,也要注意防范过度使用互联网所带来的金融风险,而其中一种有效的途径便是普及金融知识教育,提高居民的金融素养。     

农户小额信贷信用风险控制研究——基于新疆玛纳斯县、吐鲁番市、托克逊县的农户调查

本文基于对新疆玛纳斯县、吐鲁番市、托克逊县农村农户的实地调查,从社会学制度变迁角度,运用博弈分析的方法,研究了农户小额信贷信用风险控制问题。指出影响农户小额信贷信用风险的三个关键因素:1.在农村初步构建起制度信任安排约束的信用工程。2.农村信用社对信贷员激励相容的内控机制设计。3.小额信贷额度控制和联保贷款风险控制技术。     

How much informal credit lending responded to monetary policy in China? The case of Wenzhou

This study investigates empirically what the major factors are which have driven Wenzhou's informal credit market and how much that market is responsive to monetary policies and the formal banking conditions nationwide. A number of relatively stable factors have been identified from this volatile market through a careful exploration of a monthly survey data set for the period of 2003–2011. The main findings are: (i) Wenzhou's informal credit lending rates are highly receptive to monetary policies; (ii) Wenzhou's market is dominantly demand driven; (iii) Wenzhou's informal lending is substitutive to bank savings in the short run but complementary to banking lending in the long run; and (iv) Wenzhou's market is complementary to excessive investments in the local real estate market.     

数字普惠金融对家庭消费借贷的影响研究——基于金融素养的调节效应

基于中国家庭金融调查（CHFS）2015年、2017年和2019年三期面板数据探讨数字普惠金融与家庭消费借贷之间的关系。研究表明,数字普惠金融对家庭消费借贷具有扩张效应,其中对低层次消费借贷扩张效应更强,金融素养提高能强化数字普惠金融对消费借贷的扩张效应。分数字普惠金融子维度来看,数字普惠金融对消费借贷的扩张效应主要源于覆盖广度和使用深度的提高,数字化程度作用较小。异质性分析发现,数字普惠金融对消费借贷的扩张效应对“长尾”群体更显著,即对农村和中西部家庭消费借贷具有更强的扩张效应。另外,该扩张效应存在工具门槛及知识门槛,拥有智能手机及高学历的家庭更容易获得消费借贷。     

Constraints in Access to and Demand for Rural Credit: Evidence from Uganda

Abstract: Like in most developing countries, Uganda's financial sector is largely underdeveloped and concentrated in urban areas, leaving the majority of the agricultural producers in the rural population with no access. However, agriculture forms a significant part of the lives of the rural households, who constitute about 85 per cent of the population. This study uses the Uganda household surveys conducted in 1992/93 and 1999/2000 to shed some light on access to, and the characteristics of demand for credit among the rural population. We employ the probit, tobit and multinomial logit model estimations and we analyse demand for credit and find that Uganda's credit market is highly segmented. The rural peasant producers are largely served by relatives/friends and self‐help credit associations and their loan applications are less likely to succeed, and of those that do, smaller loans are granted. The educated and the young are more likely to demand credit while women are less likely to, and to apply for smaller loans. Therefore, while government's agricultural modernization policy considers credit as an important input to its success and as the government plans to roll out the ‘wealth‐for‐all’ programme, more needs to be done to get credit to the sector and to ensure that it can be usefully utilized. Programmes to promote skills and vocational training to enhance production and training in appropriate use of credit are also needed.     

Financial instruments of the poor: initial findings from the South African Financial Diaries study

A new data set called the South African Financial Diaries has been produced, based on a sample of 166 households, drawn from three different areas in South Africa – Langa, Lugangeni and Diepsloot. The selected households represent a range of dwelling types and wealth categories. A unique methodology was used to create a year-long daily data set of every income, expense and financial transaction used by every one of these households. Within this sample, households used, on average, 17 different financial instruments over the course of the study year. A composite household portfolio, based on all 166 households, would have an average of four savings instruments, two insurance instruments and 11 credit instruments. The same composite household portfolio would have about 30 per cent formal instruments and 70 per cent informal instruments. Interestingly, it was found that rural households use as many financial instruments as urban ones.     

Comparative Economics of Maize and Rice Production among Resource-Poor Farmers in Anambra State of Nigeria

Abstract: Maize and Rice are some of the most important grains in Nigeria. Although Nigeria has the potential to become self-sufficient in their production, maize and rice production currently lags behind demand. This study has examined the characteristics of resource-poor maize and rice farmers, (defined in terms of land availability, estimated income per farmer, access to credit and capital) in Anambra State of Nigeria, the impact of these characteristics on yield, and the efficiency of use of stated inputs by the farmers. It was found that low income farmers (both maize and rice) had smaller farm size, smaller loan size (credit), adopted a smaller number of recommended production technologies, had lower levels of formal education, are younger, had a smaller household size, and less number of years of farming experience than high income farmers. The regression analysis result shows that farm size, credit, level of adoption of recommended production technologies, level of formal education of fanners, and age of farmers are significantly related to the maize farmers' output, but household size and number of years of farming experience account for less. In the case of rice farmers, the regression analysis result reveals that farm size, level of adoption of recommended production technologies and number of years of farming experience are significantly related to the farmers' output, but level of formal education of farmers, age of farmers, household size, and credit account for less. The results of gross margin analysis reveal that maize and rice production are not very profitable when the present value of the Naira in relation to cost of living in Nigeria is considered.     

甘肃省农户资金借贷实证分析

通过对甘肃省405户农户资金借贷行为的问卷调查,发现农户借贷需求满足程度不足,农村信用社贷款额度小,期限短,信用约束强,不支持农户生活性借贷需求;民间借贷多局限于亲朋、邻里之间,借贷资金规模不大,缺乏信用形式,管理很不规范。文章针对甘肃省农户资金借贷存在的约束因素,提出了相应的政策建议。     

Rural Nonfarm Employment and Incomes in Chile

This article analyzes the evolution of rural nonfarm employment (RNFE) and income in Chile during 1990–96. The data used come from the National Socioeconomic Survey (CASEN), and from a household survey undertaken by the authors in two municipalities in 1999. The latter contrasted two zones, very different in terms of economic dynamism and rural poverty. We show that during the period, RNFE and incomes increased 10% and 18%, respectively, in 1996, reaching 39% of rural employment and 41% of rural incomes. The rate of multiactivity (the share of households participating in more than one sector) was only 20%, lower than expected, indicating a tendency toward economic specialization in rural income strategies. The determinants of such employment are mainly household characteristics, in particular variables related to human capital, such as the age and gender of the household head, and the schooling of the household members, although also important are access to credit and physical capital. The level of nonfarm income of rural households is determined mainly by the economic context, in particular the economic level and dynamism of the overall zone and the quality of the roads. It is proposed that policies to develop RNFE should be geared to zone characteristics, and should in general favor investments in education, in roads, and in access to credit. Moreover, households headed by women should be the object of special attention. To promote such policies, it will be necessary to address important gaps and weaknesses in the public institutional structure.     

Mortgage Product Substitution and State Anti-predatory Lending Laws: Better Loans and Better Borrowers?

Mounting foreclosures and disclosures of abusive lending practices led many states to adopt new anti-predatory lending (APL) laws. Researchers have examined the impact of such laws on credit flows and the cost of credit. This research extends the literature by examining whether the market responded to these laws by substituting different mortgage products for those restricted by APL provisions. The evidence indicates that the laws were effective in restricting loans with targeted characteristics, and that the market substituted other product types to maintain access to credit and affordability in the face of these restrictions. The laws reduced the involvement of investor and second home purchases but appeared to impact borrower credit scores or down payments.