There is little evidence on how the large market for credit score improvement products affects consumers or credit … market efficiency. A randomized encouragement design on a standard credit builder loan (CBL) identifies null average effects … on whether consumers have a credit score and the score itself, with important heterogeneity: those with loans outstanding …

There is little evidence on how the large market for credit score improvement products affects consumers or credit … market efficiency. A randomized encouragement design on a standard credit builder loan (CBL) identifies null average effects … on whether consumers have a credit score and the score itself, with important heterogeneity: those with loans outstanding …

How does the large market for credit score improvement products affect consumers and market efficiency? For consumers …, we use a randomized encouragement design on a standard credit builder loan (CBL) and find null average effects on scores … credit activity. CBLs induce delinquency on pre-existing loan obligations, suggesting that even a seemingly modest additional …

importance of adverse selection and moral hazard in a consumer credit market using a new field experiment methodology. We … generates unique evidence on the existence and magnitudes of specific credit market failures. We find evidence of both adverse … asymmetric information problems. This helps explain the prevalence of credit constraints even in a market that specializes in …

Expanding credit access is a key ingredient of development strategies worldwide. Microfinance practitioners … expansion. There is less consensus on the role of consumer credit in expansion initiatives. Some microfinance institutions are … moving beyond entrepreneurial credit and offering consumer loans. But many practitioners and policymakers are skeptical about …