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Give Me a Pass: Flexible Credit for Entrepreneurs in Colombia

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  • Lasse Brune
  • Xavier Giné
  • Dean Karlan

Abstract

Although microcredit has reached millions, recent randomized evaluations find limited average business impacts. Contract rigidity, specifically the fixed and frequent installments, may limit productive risk-taking and thus diminish impact on average profits but risk triggering moral hazard. We test this with a Colombian lender that experimentally compared, for a sample of new borrowers, rigid lending to a loan product that included three “passes” to push off a monthly payment to the future. The flexible loan did lead to some shifts in investment behavior but no average impact on revenue or profits level or variance, and did lead to higher default.

Suggested Citation

  • Lasse Brune & Xavier Giné & Dean Karlan, 2022. "Give Me a Pass: Flexible Credit for Entrepreneurs in Colombia," NBER Working Papers 30634, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30634
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ahlin, Christian & Gulesci, Selim & Madestam, Andreas & Stryjan, Miri, 2020. "Loan contract structure and adverse selection: Survey evidence from Uganda," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 180-195.
    2. Erica Field & Rohini Pande & John Papp & Natalia Rigol, 2013. "Does the Classic Microfinance Model Discourage Entrepreneurship among the Poor? Experimental Evidence from India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2196-2226, October.
    3. Emily Breza & Cynthia Kinnan, 2021. "Measuring the Equilibrium Impacts of Credit: Evidence from the Indian Microfinance Crisis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1447-1497.
    4. Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2009. "Observing Unobservables: Identifying Information Asymmetries With a Consumer Credit Field Experiment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(6), pages 1993-2008, November.
    5. Bruno Crépon & Florencia Devoto & Esther Duflo & William Parienté, 2015. "Estimating the Impact of Microcredit on Those Who Take It Up: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Morocco," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 123-150, January.
    6. Abhijit Banerjee & Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2015. "Six Randomized Evaluations of Microcredit: Introduction and Further Steps," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Marc Labie & Carolina Laureti & Ariane Szafarz, 2017. "Discipline and flexibility: a behavioural perspective on microfinance product design," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(3), pages 321-337, July.
    8. William Jack & Michael Kremer & Joost de Laat & Tavneet Suri, 2023. "Credit Access, Selection, and Incentives in a Market for Asset-Collateralized Loans: Evidence From Kenya," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(6), pages 3153-3185.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giorgia Barboni, 2024. "Innovations in the repayment structure of microcredit contracts," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 40(1), pages 129-138.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • O21 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Planning Models; Planning Policy

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