Tag
microfinance
7 findings
Finance & microfinanceTraining-Induced Credit Demand ActivationBusiness training doubled borrowing among upper-caste Hindu women, increasing loan take-up by 13 percentage points (p < 0.05) from a control mean of 17%, while causing a statistically insignificant reduction in savings (-315.32 rupees), confirming that training activates credit demand rather than merely increasing capital supply.RCTFinance & microfinanceGrace Period Debt ContractGrace period clients exhibited 6.0% higher short-run business investment, nearly 3 times higher rates of new business formation (2.0% control vs 4.6% treatment), 41.0% higher weekly profits, 19.5% higher monthly household income, 81.0% higher business capital, and an 11.0% to 13.0% monthly return on capital, alongside default rates that were 6 to 9 percentage points higher (5.4% default vs 1.6% control at 24 weeks).RCTDevelopmentUnconditional Capital Grant Returns in MicroenterprisesGrant recipients invested an average of 179 cedis more than control firms in baseline-targeted categories within two months (p < 0.10). However, capital grants caused a statistically significant post-treatment drop in monthly business income of 45 cedis (p < 0.05) against a control mean of 146 cedis, with 95% confidence intervals ranging from -66% to -1%.RCTFinance & microfinanceMicrofinance Credit Inelasticity in Transnational HouseholdsOnly 2 out of 438 offered individuals took up the microloan product (~0.46% take-up rate), yielding regression coefficients statistically indistinguishable from zero.RCTDevelopmentNon-Monotonic Responsiveness to Gender Norm RestrictionsBusiness training increased the likelihood of taking a loan by 13 percentage points (p < 0.05) and boosted labor market activity by 19 percentage points (a 25% increase, p < 0.01) among upper-caste Hindu women. In contrast, the treatment effect on earning business income was 37 percentage points lower for Scheduled Caste women (p < 0.001) and 22 percentage points lower for Muslim women (p < 0.05), demonstrating a non-monotonic impact across restriction tiers.RCTFinance & microfinancePeer-Based Selection of MicroentrepreneursEntrepreneurs ranked in the top third by peers achieved monthly returns of 24% to 30% on cash grants (around 3 times the average return of 10% to 11%), and combining observable traits with peer information yielded 38% monthly returns.RCTFinance & microfinanceRisk-Aversion Heterogeneous Treatment EffectsThe grace period contract increased monthly profits for risk-averse clients (48.5% of the sample) by 92.0% (Rs 1,207.7 to Rs 1,543.6 higher profits, p < 0.05), whereas risk-loving clients experienced no statistically significant additional profit gain (interaction coefficient -Rs 1,243.5 to -Rs 1,557.9).RCT