A dynamic, stochastic, rational expectations model of a peasant household with access to deposits and loans (up to a credit limit) is solved and simulated. If formal contracts offer more favorable rates than informal contracts, then access to formal contracts increases average consumption and...

Censored (Tobit) regression is used to estimate the effects of race, location of residence, and sex of the household head on formal debt held by South African households. The magnitude of the effects suggests that lenders discriminate and that formal financial markets could be improved even...

A partial-observability model finds evidence of racial discrimination by retailers of consumer durables in apartheid South Africa. In particular, black households are 13 percentage points more likely to demand a hire/purchase loan but not to have one supplied than are other households, all else...

Three development finance institutions (DFIs) which operate in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province were assessed in 1996/97 to see how they could improve financial viability and outreach to emerging farmers, agribusiness and micro-entrepreneurs. Improved service quality and emphasis on mobilising...

The Dynamics of Rural Development Project attempts to examine the agricultural sector, which recently has been subjected to comprehensive agrarian reform and rural nonfarm enterprises (RNEs). This paper is an integration of the major findings of various studies under the second set of...

The analysis of credit rationing in the context of the classical equilibrium model implies the existence of financial repression where interest rates are controlled. Given fixed interest rates at a level lower than the market clearing rates, borrowers are expected to demand more loans than...