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A General Equilibrium Analysis of Inflation and Microfinance in Developing Countries

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  • Müller, Daniel

Abstract

This paper analyses the welfare effects of microfinance and inflation in developing countries. Therefore, we introduce a moral hazard problem into a monetary search model with money and credit. We show how access to basic financial services affects households' decisions to borrow, to save and to hold money balances. The group lending mechanism of the microfinance institution induces peer monitoring, which in turn enables entrepreneurship. Our main result is that there exists an inflation threshold beyond which entrepreneurship collapses. We show that inflation affects the impact of microfinance on social welfare in a nonlinear way. The positive effect of microfinance is largest for moderate rates of inflation and drops substantially for inflation rates above the threshold.

Suggested Citation

  • Müller, Daniel, 2013. "A General Equilibrium Analysis of Inflation and Microfinance in Developing Countries," Working papers 2013/06, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    • Handle: RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2013/06
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Imran Matin & David Hulme & Stuart Rutherford, 2002. "Finance for the poor: from microcredit to microfinancial services," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(2), pages 273-294.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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