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Contingent Loan Repayment in the Philippines

Author

Listed:
  • Marcel Fafchamps
  • Flore Gubert
  • DIAL
  • Research Unit or IRD

Abstract

Using data from the Philippines, this paper seeks to understand how households in the study area apparently manage to avoid falling in a debt trap in spite of frequent borrowing. Findings suggest this is achieved via three institutional features. First, most informal debt carries no interest. As we show in the conceptual section, charging zero interest makes a debt trap impossible. Second, for all debts, repayment is postponed in case of borrower`s difficulty; this is the only insurance feature of debt repayment. Third, while debt principal is seldom forgiven or reduced, interest-bearing debt does not carry additional interest if debt repayment is delayed. This prevents interest charges from accumulating and debt from snowballing.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcel Fafchamps & Flore Gubert & DIAL & Research Unit or IRD, 2004. "Contingent Loan Repayment in the Philippines," Economics Series Working Papers 215, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:215
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    Cited by:

    1. Marie Godquin & Manohar Sharma, 2005. "If only I could borrow more! Production and consumption credit constraints in the Philippines," Post-Print halshs-00193374, HAL.
    2. Mark Koyama, 2010. "The political economy of expulsion: the regulation of Jewish moneylending in medieval England," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 374-406, December.
    3. Kristina Czura & Stefan Klonner, 2018. "Financial Market Responses to a Natural Disaster: Evidence from Local Credit Networks and the Indian Ocean Tsunami," CESifo Working Paper Series 7354, CESifo.
    4. Czura, Kristina & Klonner, Stefan, 2023. "Financial market responses to a natural disaster: Evidence from credit networks and the Indian Ocean tsunami," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Rafael P. Ribas, 2020. "Liquidity constraints, spillovers, and entrepreneurship: evidence from a cash transfer program," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1131-1158, December.
    6. Fafchamps, Marcel & Gubert, Flore, 2007. "The formation of risk sharing networks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 326-350, July.
    7. Jared Rubin, 2009. "Social Insurance, Commitment, and the Origin of Law: Interest Bans in Early Christianity," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(4), pages 761-786, November.
    8. Marie Godquin & Manohar Sharma, 2005. "If only I could borrow more! Production and consumption credit constraints in the Philippines," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques bla05008, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    9. Lee Cronk & Athena Aktipis, 2021. "Design principles for risk-pooling systems," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(7), pages 825-833, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt Repayment; Informal Credit; Risk Sharing; Labor Bonding;
    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
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General

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