The Real cost of credit constraints: Evidence from micro-finance

dc.contributor.author	Sane, Renuka
dc.contributor.author	Thomas, Susan
dc.date.accessioned	2015-08-07T06:59:59Z
dc.date.available	2015-08-07T06:59:59Z
dc.date.issued	2013-07
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/2275/287
dc.description.abstract	In December 2010, the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh passed a law that severely restricted the operations of micro-finance institutions and brought the micro-finance industry to an abrupt halt. We measure the impact of micro-credit withdrawal in this unique natural experiment and find that average household expenditure dropped by 19 percent relative to a control group after the ban. The largest decrease was observed in expenditure on food. There is some evidence of higher volatility in consumption after the ban. All households were affected and not just the borrower households, which may suggest general equilibrium effects.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries	WP;WP-2013-013
dc.subject	consumption smoothing	en_US
dc.subject	credit	en_US
dc.subject	household finance	en_US
dc.subject	micro-finance ban	en_US
dc.subject	natural experiment	en_US
dc.title	The Real cost of credit constraints: Evidence from micro-finance	en_US
dc.type	Working Paper	en_US