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Cultural Proximity and Loan Outcomes

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  • Raymond Fisman
  • Daniel Paravisini
  • Vikrant Vig

Abstract

Evidence is presented to show that shared codes, religious beliefs, ethnicity - cultural proximity - between lenders and borrowers improves the efficiency of credit allocation. In-group preferential treatment is identified using dyadic data on the religion and caste of bank officers and borrowers from a bank in India, and a rotation policy that induces exogenous matching between officers and borrowers. Cultural proximity increases lending on both intensive and extensive margins and improves repayment performance, even after the in-group officer is replaced by an out-group one. Further, cultural proximity increases loan dispersion and reduces loan to collateral ratios. [BREAD Working Paper No. 345]. URL:[http://ipl.econ.duke.edu/bread/papers/working/345.pdf]

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  • Raymond Fisman & Daniel Paravisini & Vikrant Vig, 2012. "Cultural Proximity and Loan Outcomes," Working Papers id:5036, eSocialSciences.
    • Handle: RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:5036
    Note: Institutional Papers
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    India; Caste; Religion; Lending discrimination; finance; religious beliefs; ethnicity; cultural proximity; lenders; borrowers; bank; credit allocation; financial constraints; loan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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