Win Some Lose Some? Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco

By M. Angelucci, Dean S. Karlan, Jonathan Zinman. Social Science Research Network, 2013

143 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Theory and evidence have raised concerns that microcredit does more harm than good, particularly when offered at high interest rates. We use a clustered randomized trial, and household surveys of eligible borrowers and their businesses, to estimate impacts from an expansion of group lending at 110% APR by the largest microlender in Mexico. Average effects on a rich set of outcomes measured 18-34 months post-expansion suggest some good and little harm. Other estimators identify heterogeneous treatment effects and effects on outcome distributions, but again yield little support for the hypothesis that microcredit causes harm.

Subfields: Accounting, Economics and Econometrics, Safety Research

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/35b47046ded3f78aca022c9e72452907d273430a

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Citations in the corpus

Financial inclusion and development : recent impact evidence (2014, background): “In addition, access to microcredit increased the ability of microentrepreneurs to cope with risk (the Philippines and Mexico).”
Returns to microcredit, cash grants and training for male and female microentrepreneurs in Uganda (2018, background): “Fischer (2013), Augsburg et al. (2015), Gine and Mansuri (2011), Desai, Johnson, and Tarozzi (2013) and Angelucci, Karlan, and Zinman (2013) all fail to find significant impacts from microcredit.”
The Persistent Power of Behavioral Change: Long-Run Impacts of Temporary Savings Subsidies for the Poor (2018, unknown): “are able to benefit from financial interventions meant to support increased self-employment income (Fafchamps et al. 2012; Field et al. forthcoming; Banerjee et al. 2013; Crépon et al. 2011; Angelucci et al. 2013).”
The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation (2013, unknown): “The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available.”
Generating Skilled Self-Employment in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from Uganda* (2014, background): “4 Several experiments show microfinance raises farm investment but has little effect on new enterprise or earnings (Angelucci, Karlan, and Zinman 2012; Attanasio et al. 2011; Augsburg et al. 2012; Banerjee et al. 2013; Crépon et al. 2011).”
Do Interventions Targeted at Micro-Entrepreneurs and Small and Medium-Sized Firms Create Jobs? A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Low and Middle Income Countries (2014, background): “…Job priority Country Size of Enterprises Targeted Women targeted Study Design Length of follow-up Program effect(s) Access to finance interventions Angelucci et al. (2013) Microcredit, joint-liability, stand-alone, targeted at women that have a business or self-employment activity or intend to…”
Early Life Circumstance and Adult Mental Health (2019, result): “This study complements a growing set of studies in the development economics literature that regard economic outcomes as incomplete measurements of welfare (Angelucci et al., 2013; Baird et al., 2013; Devoto et al., 2012; Haushofer and Shapiro, 2013).”
Thinking Inside the Box: A Closer Look at Financial Inclusion and Household Income (2019, background): “, 2010; Dupas & Robinson, 2013); (2) improving access to credit, which positively affects consumption, employment status, income and health (Angelucci et al., 2013; Banerjee et al., 2015; Karlan et al., 2010); and (3) improving access to insurance, which encourages riskier agricultural practice, whi”
An institutional logics approach to social entrepreneurship: Market logic, religious diversity, and resource acquisition by microfinance organizations (2016, background): “While recent studies based on randomized trials have shown that microfinance is not a magic bullet in addressing poverty (e.g., Angelucci et al., 2012; Banerjee et al., 2015), some evidence suggests that neoliberal notions of self-help, individualism, and entrepreneurship for the poor are…”
Is financial inclusion good for bank stability? International evidence (2017, background): “…Beck et al., 2007a; Bruhn and Love, 2014); increases employment (e.g., Prasad, 2010); improves mental well-being (e.g., Karlan and Zinman, 2010; Angelucci et al., 2013); favours education (e.g., Flug et al., 1998); helps making better decision (e.g., Mani et al., 2013); and enhances new firm…”