IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v37y2009i3p618-631.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rural Women's Access to Credit: Market Imperfections and Intrahousehold Dynamics

Author

Listed:
  • Fletschner, Diana

Abstract

Summary Credit rationing studies carried out at the household level and based on responses from male heads of households present an incomplete and biased assessment of who is likely to be constrained, why they are constrained, and what is the extent of the constraints. They ignore possibly conflictive intrahousehold dynamics and assume that imperfections in rural financial markets are gender-neutral. This paper addresses both issues theoretically and empirically. The Semi-Cooperative Household model developed for this analysis formalizes the conditions under which spouses', and particularly women's, individual access to credit can be affected by their own position in the financial market as well as by intrahousehold dynamics. These notions are then explored empirically using husbands' and wives' individual perceptions of their access to credit in rural Paraguay. The most significant empirical findings of the paper are that (i) compared to men, women are more likely to be credit constrained; (ii) women's rationing status responds to a different set of factors than men's; and (iii) husbands may choose not to intermediate capital to their wives even when they are able to do so. Results from this exercise provide empirically sound support for the assumptions underlying women-targeted credit programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Fletschner, Diana, 2009. "Rural Women's Access to Credit: Market Imperfections and Intrahousehold Dynamics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 618-631, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:3:p:618-631
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(08)00236-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diana Fletschner, 2008. "Women's Access to Credit: Does It Matter for Household Efficiency?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(3), pages 669-683.
    2. Martin Petrick, 2005. "Empirical measurement of credit rationing in agriculture: a methodological survey," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(2), pages 191-203, September.
    3. Gershon Feder & Lawrence J. Lau & Justin Y. Lin & Xiaopeng Luo, 1990. "The Relationship between Credit and Productivity in Chinese Agriculture: A Microeconomic Model of Disequilibrium," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(5), pages 1151-1157.
    4. David Mushinski, 1999. "An analysis of offer functions of banks and credit unions in Guatemala," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 88-112.
    5. Fletschner, Diana & Carter, Michael R., 2008. "Constructing and reconstructing gender: Reference group effects and women's demand for entrepreneurial capital," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 672-693, April.
    6. Udry, Christopher, 1996. "Gender, Agricultural Production, and the Theory of the Household," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 1010-1046, October.
    7. Lundberg, Shelly & Pollak, Robert A, 1993. "Separate Spheres Bargaining and the Marriage Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(6), pages 988-1010, December.
    8. Esther Duflo & Christopher Udry, 2003. "Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Côte D'ivoire: Social Norms, Separate Accounts and Consumption Choices," Working Papers 857, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    9. Zeller, Manfred, 1994. "Determinants of credit rationing: A study of informal lenders and formal credit groups in Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(12), pages 1895-1907, December.
    10. Baydas, Mayada M. & Meyer, Richard L. & Aguilera-Alfred, Nelson, 1994. "Discrimination against women in formal credit markets: Reality or rhetoric?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 1073-1082, July.
    11. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Savings, credit and insurance," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 36, pages 2123-2207, Elsevier.
    12. Diagne, Aliou & Zeller, Manfred, 2001. "Access to credit and its impact on welfare in Malawi:," Research reports 116, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Barham, Bradford L. & Boucher, Stephen & Carter, Michael R., 1996. "Credit constraints, credit unions, and small-scale producers in Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 793-806, May.
    14. Tauchen, Helen V & Witte, Ann Dryden & Long, Sharon K, 1991. "Domestic Violence: A Nonrandom Affair," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 32(2), pages 491-511, May.
    15. Mark M. Pitt & Shahidur R. Khandker, 1998. "The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(5), pages 958-996, October.
    16. Mark M. Pitt & Shahidur R. Khandker & Omar Haider Chowdhury & Daniel L. Millimet, 1998. "Credit Programs for the Poor and the Nutritional Status of Children in Rural Bangladesh," Working Papers 98-4, Brown University, Department of Economics, revised 16 Jan 1998.
    17. Mark M. Pitt & Shahidur R. Khandker & Omar Haider Chowdhury & Daniel L. Millimet, 2003. "Credit Programs for the Poor And the Health Status of Children in Rural Bangladesh," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(1), pages 87-118, February.
    18. Boucher, Stephen R. & Guirkinger, Catherine & Trivelli, Carolina, 2006. "Direct Elicitation of Credit Constraints: Conceptual and Practical Issues with an Empirical Application to Peruvian Agriculture," Working Papers 6883, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    19. Tullio Jappelli, 1990. "Who is Credit Constrained in the U. S. Economy?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 105(1), pages 219-234.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Swaminathan, Hema & Salcedo Du Bois, Rodrigo & Findeis, Jill L., 2010. "Impact of Access to Credit on Labor Allocation Patterns in Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 555-566, April.
    2. Mukasa Adamon N. & Anthony M. Simpasa & Adeleke Oluwole Salami, 2017. "Working Paper 247 - Credit constraints and farm productivity: Micro-level evidence from smallholder farmers in Ethiopia," Working Paper Series 2356, African Development Bank.
    3. Martin Petrick, 2005. "Empirical measurement of credit rationing in agriculture: a methodological survey," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(2), pages 191-203, September.
    4. Xiangping Jia & Franz Heidhues & Manfred Zeller, 2010. "Credit rationing of rural households in China," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 70(1), pages 37-54, May.
    5. Foltz, Jeremy D., 2004. "Credit market access and profitability in Tunisian agriculture," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 229-240, May.
    6. Boucher, Stephen R. & Guirkinger, Catherine & Trivelli, Carolina, 2006. "Direct Elicitation of Credit Constraints: Conceptual and Practical Issues with an Empirical Application to Peruvian Agriculture," Working Papers 6883, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    7. Liqiong Lin & Weizhuo Wang & Christopher Gan & David A. Cohen & Quang T.T Nguyen, 2019. "Rural Credit Constraint and Informal Rural Credit Accessibility in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Matthias Doepke & Michèle Tertilt, 2019. "Does female empowerment promote economic development?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 309-343, December.
    9. Marie Godquin & Manohar Sharma, 2005. "If only I could borrow more! Production and consumption credit constraints in the Philippines," Post-Print halshs-00193374, HAL.
    10. Fletschner, Diana & Mesbah, Dina, 2011. "Gender Disparity in Access to Information: Do Spouses Share What They Know?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1422-1433, August.
    11. Sebastián Auguste & Ricardo N. Bebczuk & Ramiro Moya, 2011. "The Demand for Mortgages under Macro Volatility: The Argentine Case," Research Department Publications 4751, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    12. Catherine Guirkinger & Stephen R. Boucher, 2008. "Credit constraints and productivity in Peruvian agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(3), pages 295-308, November.
    13. Hazarika, Gautam & Guha-Khasnobis, Basudeb, 2008. "Household Access to Microcredit and Children's Food Security in Rural Malawi: A Gender Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 3793, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Diagne, Aliou & Zeller, Manfred, 2001. "Access to credit and its impact on welfare in Malawi:," Research reports 116, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    15. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Duponchel, Marguerite, 2014. "Credit constraints, agricultural productivity, and rural nonfarm participation : evidence from Rwanda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6769, The World Bank.
    16. Ayalew Ali, Daniel & Deininger, Klaus, 2012. "Causes and implications of credit rationing in rural Ethiopia : the importance of spatial variation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6096, The World Bank.
    17. Olomola, Aderbigbe & Gyimah-Brempong, Kwabena, 2014. "Loan demand and rationing among small-scale farmers in Nigeria:," IFPRI discussion papers 1403, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. McKernan, Signe-Mary & Pitt, Mark M. & Moskowitz, David, 2005. "Use of the formal and informal financial sectors : does gender matter? empirical evidence from rural Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3491, The World Bank.
    19. Ying Cao & Yuehua Zhang, 2012. "Hog insurance adoption and suppliers' discrimination," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(2), pages 233-255, May.
    20. Samuel Sekyi, 2017. "Rural Households' Credit Access and Loan Amount in Wa Municipality, Ghana," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(1), pages 506-514.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:3:p:618-631. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.