Determinants of Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance : An Empirical Investigation

In this paper we have analyzed borrower over-indebtedness in microfinance, using multiple financial ratio based measures representing different facets of borrower-over-indebtedness namely, liquidity, debt absorption capacity and solvency of the borrowing household. Our data shows that the incidence of borrower over-indebtedness in microfinance is fairly wide spread. We perform the analysis by categorizing the determinants of over-indebtedness broadly into external, lender related, borrower related and demographic factors using logistic regression framework. We find that external, lender related and demographic factors exert relatively stronger influence in comparison to borrower related factors, highlighting the role of environmental and institutional forces in causing over-indebtedness. Our findings point to the strong need for access regulation and the need for prioritizing income generation over credit distribution on the policy front. Operationally, our findings show that inclusion of demographic features of the borrower households in the credit appraisal process can lead to better assessment of repayment capacity, rather than wholly relying on the strengths of group lending mechanism