IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v54y2014icp301-324.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance – An Empirical Analysis of Related Factors on the Borrower Level

Author

Listed:
  • Schicks, Jessica

Abstract

This paper analyzes the over-indebtedness of microborrowers in Ghana from a customer protection perspective. It measures over-indebtedness as a subjective indicator based on loan-related sacrifices that borrowers report. It finds that male microborrowers are more likely to be over-indebted. So are borrowers with adverse economic shocks, low returns on investment, and non-productive loan use. Over-indebtedness is lower for borrowers with good debt-literacy. General financial literacy and numeracy seem insufficient to reduce over-indebtedness. The paper details the relationship of the above factors to the specific sacrifices borrowers make and suggests that policy measures address the full complexity of the over-indebtedness phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Schicks, Jessica, 2014. "Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance – An Empirical Analysis of Related Factors on the Borrower Level," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 301-324.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:54:y:2014:i:c:p:301-324
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.08.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X13001988
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.08.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Stone, Brice & Maury, Rosalinda Vasquez, 2006. "Indicators of personal financial debt using a multi-disciplinary behavioral model," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 543-556, August.
    3. Fafchamps, Marcel & McKenzie, David & McKenzie, David & Quinn, Simon & Woodruff, Christopher, 2011. "When is capital enough to get female enterprises growing ? evidence from a randomized experiment in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5706, The World Bank.
    4. Ana del Río & Garry Young, 2005. "The impact of unsecured debt on financial distress among British households," Working Papers 0512, Banco de España.
    5. Karlan, Dean S. & Zinman, Jonathan, 2009. "Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila," Center Discussion Papers 52600, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    6. Agier, Isabelle & Guérin, Isabelle & Szafarz, Ariane, 2012. "Child gender and parental borrowing: Evidence from India," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 363-365.
    7. Alejandro Drexler & Greg Fischer & Antoinette Schoar, 2014. "Keeping It Simple: Financial Literacy and Rules of Thumb," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 1-31, April.
    8. Carter, Michael R. & Little, Peter D. & Mogues, Tewodaj & Negatu, Workneh, 2007. "Poverty Traps and Natural Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 835-856, May.
    9. Lusardi, Annamaria & Tufano, Peter, 2015. "Debt literacy, financial experiences, and overindebtedness," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 332-368, October.
    10. Karlan, Dean & Zinman, Jonathan, 2009. "Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila," Working Papers 68, Yale University, Department of Economics.
    11. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2007. "Baby Boomer retirement security: The roles of planning, financial literacy, and housing wealth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 205-224, January.
    12. Richard H. Thaler, 2008. "Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 15-25, 01-02.
    13. Skoufias, Emmanuel, 2003. "Economic Crises and Natural Disasters: Coping Strategies and Policy Implications," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1087-1102, July.
    14. Garikipati, Supriya, 2008. "The Impact of Lending to Women on Household Vulnerability and Women's Empowerment: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2620-2642, December.
    15. Greenwald, Bruce C., 1983. "A general analysis of bias in the estimated standard errors of least squares coefficients," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 323-338, August.
    16. 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.
    17. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2009. "Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(1), pages 423-423.
    18. Dean Karlan & Ed Kutsoati & Margaret McMillan & Chris Udry, 2011. "Crop Price Indemnified Loans for Farmers: A Pilot Experiment in Rural Ghana," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 78(1), pages 37-55, March.
    19. Dean Karlan & Nathanael Goldberg, 2011. "Microfinance Evaluation Strategies: Notes on Methodology and Findings," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Beatriz Armendáriz & Marc Labie (ed.), The Handbook Of Microfinance, chapter 2, pages 17-58, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    20. Ghatak, Maitreesh & Guinnane, Timothy W., 1999. "The economics of lending with joint liability: theory and practice," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 195-228, October.
    21. D'Espallier, Bert & Guérin, Isabelle & Mersland, Roy, 2011. "Women and Repayment in Microfinance: A Global Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 758-772, May.
    22. Beatriz Armendáriz & Jonathan Morduch, 2010. "The Economics of Microfinance, Second Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262014106, April.
    23. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    24. Giesbert, Lena & Schindler, Kati, 2012. "Assets, Shocks, and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1594-1609.
    25. Agier, Isabelle & Szafarz, Ariane, 2013. "Microfinance and Gender: Is There a Glass Ceiling on Loan Size?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 165-181.
    26. Milton Friedman, 1957. "A Theory of the Consumption Function," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie57-1.
    27. Stefan Dercon, 2002. "Income Risk, Coping Strategies, and Safety Nets," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 17(2), pages 141-166, September.
    28. Michal Bauer & Julie Chytilová, 2010. "The Impact of Education on Subjective Discount Rate in Ugandan Villages," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(4), pages 643-669, July.
    29. Hashemi, Syed M. & Schuler, Sidney Ruth & Riley, Ann P., 1996. "Rural credit programs and women's empowerment in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 635-653, April.
    30. Drentea, Patricia & Lavrakas, Paul J., 2000. "Over the limit: the association among health, race and debt," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 517-529, February.
    31. Jessica Schicks, 2010. "Microfinance Over-Indebtedness: Understanding its drivers and challenging the common myths," Working Papers CEB 10-048, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    32. Lea, Stephen E. G. & Webley, Paul & Walker, Catherine M., 1995. "Psychological factors in consumer debt: Money management, economic socialization, and credit use," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 681-701, December.
    33. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    34. Livingstone, Sonia M. & Lunt, Peter K., 1992. "Predicting personal debt and debt repayment: Psychological, social and economic determinants," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 111-134, March.
    35. Courchane, Marsha & Gailey, Adam & Zorn, Peter, 2008. "Consumer credit literacy: What price perception," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 60(1-2), pages 125-138.
    36. Mark Schreiner, 2001. "Scoring Drop-Out at a Microlender in Bolivia," Development and Comp Systems 0109009, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    37. Khandker, S.R. & Khalily, B. & Khan, Z., 1995. "Grameen Bank: Performance and Sustainability," World Bank - Discussion Papers 306, World Bank.
    38. Paxton, Julia & Graham, Douglas & Thraen, Cameron, 2000. "Modeling Group Loan Repayment Behavior: New Insights from Burkina Faso," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(3), pages 639-655, April.
    39. Tokunaga, Howard, 1993. "The use and abuse of consumer credit: Application of psychological theory and research," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 285-316, June.
    40. Kati Schindler, 2010. "Credit for What? Informal Credit as a Coping Strategy of Market Women in Northern Ghana," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 234-253.
    41. DeLaune, Laura D. & Rakow, Jessica S. & Rakow, K.C., 2010. "Teaching financial literacy in a co-curricular service-learning model," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 103-113.
    42. 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.
    43. Bruhn, Miriam & Zia, Bilal, 2011. "Stimulating managerial capital in emerging markets : the impact of business and financial literacy for young entrepreneurs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5642, The World Bank.
    44. Milton Friedman, 1957. "Introduction to "A Theory of the Consumption Function"," NBER Chapters, in: A Theory of the Consumption Function, pages 1-6, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    45. Michael Hamp & Carolina Laureti, 2011. "Balancing flexibility and discipline in microfinance: Innovative financial products that benefit clients and service providers," Working Papers CEB 11-044, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    46. Marek Hudon, 2007. "Fair interest rates when lending to the poor," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/14204, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    47. Linda Mayoux, 2001. "Tackling the Down Side: Social Capital, Women’s Empowerment and Micro‐Finance in Cameroon," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 435-464, June.
    48. Linda Mayoux, 2011. "Taking Gender Seriously: Towards a Gender Justice Protocol for Financial Services," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Beatriz Armendáriz & Marc Labie (ed.), The Handbook Of Microfinance, chapter 28, pages 613-641, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    49. Jianakoplos, Nancy Ammon & Bernasek, Alexandra, 1998. "Are Women More Risk Averse?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(4), pages 620-630, October.
    50. Carter, Michael R. & Lybbert, Travis J., 2012. "Consumption versus asset smoothing: testing the implications of poverty trap theory in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 255-264.
    51. Gathergood, John, 2012. "Self-control, financial literacy and consumer over-indebtedness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 590-602.
    52. Goetz, Anne Marie & Gupta, Rina Sen, 1996. "Who takes the credit? Gender, power, and control over loan use in rural credit programs in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 45-63, January.
    53. Lea, Stephen E. G. & Webley, Paul & Levine, R. Mark, 1993. "The economic psychology of consumer debt," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 85-119, March.
    54. Adele Atkinson & Stephen McKay & Sharon Collard & Elaine Kempson, 2007. "Levels of Financial Capability in the UK," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 29-36, February.
    55. 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.
    56. Glenn B. Canner & Charles A. Luckett, 1991. "Payment of household debts," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), issue Apr, pages 218-229.
    57. Pitt, Mark M & Khandker, Shahidur R & Cartwright, Jennifer, 2006. "Empowering Women with Micro Finance: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 791-831, July.
    58. 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.
    59. Kabeer, Naila, 2001. "Conflicts Over Credit: Re-Evaluating the Empowerment Potential of Loans to Women in Rural Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 63-84, January.
    60. Altman, Morris, 2012. "Implications of behavioural economics for financial literacy and public policy," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 677-690.
    61. Lo Prete, Anna, 2013. "Economic literacy, inequality, and financial development," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 74-76.
    62. Daryl Collins, 2008. "Debt and household finance: evidence from the Financial Diaries," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 469-479.
    63. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-338, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    2. Agier, Isabelle & Szafarz, Ariane, 2013. "Microfinance and Gender: Is There a Glass Ceiling on Loan Size?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 165-181.
    3. Jessica Schicks, 2013. "The Sacrifices of Micro-Borrowers in Ghana -- A Customer-Protection Perspective on Measuring Over-Indebtedness," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(9), pages 1238-1255, September.
    4. Nyarko, Samuel Anokye, 2022. "Gender discrimination and lending to women: The moderating effect of an international founder," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    5. Xu, Lisa & Zia, Bilal, 2012. "Financial literacy around the world : an overview of the evidence with practical suggestions for the way forward," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6107, The World Bank.
    6. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.
    7. Jessica Schicks, 2013. "From a Supply Gap to a Demand Gap? The Risk and Consequences of Over-indebting the Underbanked," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Jean-Pierre Gueyie & Ronny Manos & Jacob Yaron (ed.), Microfinance in Developing Countries, chapter 8, pages 152-177, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Cesar Leandro, Julio & Botelho, Delane, 2022. "Consumer over-indebtedness: A review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 535-551.
    9. Anderson, C. Leigh & Nevitte, Neil, 2006. "Teach your children well: Values of thrift and saving," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 247-261, April.
    10. Keese, Matthias, 2012. "Who feels constrained by high debt burdens? Subjective vs. objective measures of household debt," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 125-141.
    11. D'Espallier, Bert & Guérin, Isabelle & Mersland, Roy, 2011. "Women and Repayment in Microfinance: A Global Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 758-772, May.
    12. Bert D'Espallier & Marek Hudon & Ariane Szafarz, 2016. "Aid Volatility and Social Performance in Microfinance," Working Papers CEB 16-015, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    13. Narda R. Quigley & Pankaj C. Patel, 2022. "Reexamining the gender gap in microlending funding decisions: the role of borrower culture," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1661-1685, December.
    14. Supriya Garikipati & Susan Johnson & Isabelle Guérin & Ariane Szafarz, 2017. "Microfinance and Gender: Issues, Challenges and The Road Ahead," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 641-648, May.
    15. Bernadette Kamleitner & Bianca Hornung & Erich Kirchler, 2010. "Over-indebtedness and the interplay of factual and mental money management: An interview study," Working Papers 34, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    16. Périlleux, Anaïs & Szafarz, Ariane, 2015. "Women Leaders and Social Performance: Evidence from Financial Cooperatives in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 437-452.
    17. Martijn Boermans & Daan Willebrands, 2012. "Financial constraints, risk taking and firm performance: Recent evidence from microfinance clients in Tanzania," DNB Working Papers 358, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    18. Meyll, Tobias & Pauls, Thomas, 2019. "The gender gap in over-indebtedness," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    19. Philip Du Caju & François Rycx & Ilan Tojerow, 2015. "Unemployment Risk and Over-indebtedness A Micro-econometric Perspective," Working Papers CEB 15-046, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    20. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Oswald, Eva-Maria, 2016. "Repayment behavior in peer-to-peer microfinancing: Empirical evidence from Kiva," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 45-59.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    microfinance; over-indebtedness; customer protection; sacrifices; Africa; Ghana;
    All these keywords.

    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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:54:y:2014:i:c:p:301-324. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.