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Debt Traps? Market Vendors and Moneylender Debt in India and the Philippines

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  • Dean Karlan
  • Sendhil Mullainathan
  • Benjamin N. Roth

Abstract

A debt trap occurs when someone takes on a high-interest-rate loan and is barely able to pay back the interest, and thus perpetually finds themselves in debt (often by refinancing). Studying such practices is important for understanding financial decision-making of households in dire circumstances, and also for setting appropriate consumer protection policies. We conduct a simple experiment in three sites in which we paid off high-interest moneylender debt of individuals. Most borrowers returned to debt within six weeks. One to two years after intervention, treatment individuals were borrowing at the same rate as control households.

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  • Dean Karlan & Sendhil Mullainathan & Benjamin N. Roth, 2019. "Debt Traps? Market Vendors and Moneylender Debt in India and the Philippines," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 27-42, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aerins:v:1:y:2019:i:1:p:27-42
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20180030
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    Cited by:

    1. Seth Garz & Xavier Gine & Dean Karlan & Rafe Mazer & Caitlin Sanford & Jonathan Zinman, 2021. "Consumer Protection for Financial Inclusion in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Bridging Regulator and Academic Perspectives," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 219-246, November.
    2. Nikolov, Plamen, 2023. "Writing Tips for Crafting Effective Economics Research Papers – 2023-2024 Edition," IZA Discussion Papers 16276, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Altındağ, Onur & O’Connell, Stephen D., 2023. "The short-lived effects of unconditional cash transfers to refugees," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Aidt, Toke & Asatryan, Zareh & Badalyan, Lusine, 2022. "Political consequences of consumer debt relief," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-049, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Rebecca Hamilton & Debora Thompson & Sterling Bone & Lan Nguyen Chaplin & Vladas Griskevicius & Kelly Goldsmith & Ronald Hill & Deborah Roedder John & Chiraag Mittal & Thomas O’Guinn & Paul Piff & Car, 2019. "The effects of scarcity on consumer decision journeys," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 532-550, May.
    6. Leong, Kaiwen & Li, Huailu & Pavanini, Nicola & Walsh, Christoph, 2022. "The Welfare Effects of Law Enforcement in the Illegal Money Lending Market," IZA Discussion Papers 15359, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Shika Saravanabhavan & Meenakshi Rajeev, 2024. "Financial inclusion in India: How far do grassroots institutions matter?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(5), pages 2318-2341, July.
    8. Hassan, Magda & Prabhu, Jaideep & Chandy, Rajesh & Narasimhan, Om, 2023. "When bulldozers loom: informal property rights and marketing practice innovation among emerging market microentrepreneurs," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114293, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Aidt, Toke & Asatryan, Zareh & Badalyan, Lusine, 2024. "Political consequences of (consumer) debt relief," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-030, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. I. Ramsay & T. Williams, 2020. "Peering Forward, 10 Years After: International Policy and Consumer Credit Regulation," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 209-226, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D18 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Protection
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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    1. Debt Traps? Market Vendors and Moneylender Debt in India and the Philippines (AER: Insights 2019) in ReplicationWiki

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