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The sacrifices of microborrowers in Ghana – A customer-protection perspective on measuring over-indebtedness

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Listed author(s):
  • Jessica Schicks

Abstract

This paper measures the over-indebtedness of microborrowers in Ghana. It defines over-indebtedness from a customer-protection perspective, considering borrowers over-indebted if they continuously struggle with repayment and experience unacceptable sacrifices related to their debt. We find that 30% of borrowers in our urban African population of microborrowers are over-indebted. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the sacrifices borrowers experience. In a second step, it tests the risk-management indicators of debt problems as predictors of the customer-protection measurement of over-indebtedness. Over-indebtedness is strongly related to delinquency and to the debt-to-income ratio but not to total debt amounts or to multiple borrowing. We construct a model that correctly predicts 72.6% of cases. However, even the best indicators for over-indebtedness identify only a small portion of cases of over-indebtedness. To protect customers from unacceptable struggles, the industry needs to measure customer experiences directly. Sound risk management is not enough to protect customers against over-indebtedness.

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Paper provided by ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles in its series Working Papers CEB with number 12-008.

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Length: 37 p.
Date of creation: Mar 2012
Publication status: Published by:
Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/112507
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Keywords: Microfinance; Microcredit; Over-Indebtedness; Debt; Customer Protection; Sacrifices;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
  • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General
  • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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  1. Gianni Betti, 2007. "Consumer over-indebtedness in the EU: measurement and characteristics," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 34(2), pages 136-156, May.
  2. Vogelgesang, Ulrike, 2003. "Microfinance in Times of Crisis: The Effects of Competition, Rising Indebtedness, and Economic Crisis on Repayment Behavior," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 2085-2114, December.
  3. Brown, Sarah & Taylor, Karl & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2005. "Debt and distress: Evaluating the psychological cost of credit," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 642-663, October.
  4. Ana del Río & Garry Young, 2005. "The impact of unsecured debt on financial distress among British households," Working Papers 0512, Banco de España;Working Papers Homepage.
  5. Godquin, Marie, 2004. "Microfinance Repayment Performance in Bangladesh: How to Improve the Allocation of Loans by MFIs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 1909-1926, November.
  6. Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2010. "Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(1), pages 433-464, January.
  7. Isabelle Agier & Ariane Szafarz, 2013. "Subjectivity in credit allocation to micro-entrepreneurs: evidence from Brazil," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 263-275, June.
  8. Sharma, Manohar & Zeller, Manfred, 1997. "Repayment performance in group-based credit programs in Bangladesh: An empirical analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(10), pages 1731-1742, October.
  9. Marc Labie, 2007. "Réflexions préliminaires pour une approche éthique de la gestion des organisations en microfinance," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/14271, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  10. Sarah Bridges & Richard Disney, 2004. "Use of credit and arrears on debt among low-income families in the United Kingdom," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 1-25, March.
  11. Rahman, Aminur, 1999. "Micro-credit initiatives for equitable and sustainable development: Who pays?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-82, January.
  12. Rinaldi, Laura & Sanchis-Arellano, Alicia, 2006. "Household debt sustainability: what explains household non-performing loans? An empirical analysis," Working Paper Series 0570, European Central Bank.
  13. Daryl Collins, 2008. "Debt and household finance: evidence from the Financial Diaries," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 469-479.
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Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Over-indebtedness in Microfinance – Who Should Bear the Risk?
    by Jessica Schicks in CGAP Microfinance Blog on 2012-06-11 13:17:02
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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Cited by:

  1. Luminita Postelnicu & Niels Hermes & Roselia Servin Juarez, 2015. "Social Capital and the Repayment of Microfinance Group Lending. A Case Study of Pro Mujer Mexico," Working Papers CEB 15-023, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  2. Luminita Postelnicu & Niels Hermes & Ariane Szafarz, 2013. "Defining Social Collateral in Microfinance Group Lending," Working Papers CEB 13-050, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  3. Barry, Thierno Amadou & Tacneng, Ruth, 2014. "The Impact of Governance and Institutional Quality on MFI Outreach and Financial Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-20.
  4. Marc Labie & Carolina Laureti & Ariane Szafarz, 2013. "Flexible Products in Microfinance: Overcoming the Demand-Supply Mismatch," Working Papers CEB 13-044, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  5. Weber, Ron & Musshoff, Oliver, 2012. "Microfinance for agricultural firms - What can we learn from bank data?," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126708, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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