In this study it is shown that group lending is not always effective in dealing with the information and enforcement issues associated with financial intermediation, In particular, by transferring all screening responsibilities onto borrowers, efficiency is lost in the intermediation process,...

Replaced with revised version of paper 08/03/05.

Over the past two decades, the financial services industry has experienced a significant increase in competition and internal rivalry. Driven by deregulation and advances in information technologies, many historical institutional distinctions among financial intermediaries have disappeared or...

There has been a growing existence of informal financial institutions in both rural and urban areas of South Africa. The objective of this paper is to identify factors influencing the choice of informal financial service providers in the peri-urban areas of South Africa. Data from 193...

The purpose of the paper is to understand the soci-economic factors affecting the distribution of community reinvestment act loans across four income groups using county level information from 1996-2004 for the delta region. The specific objectives of the paper1) Estimate an seemingly unrelated...

A proposal from an international mining company to establish a copper mining operation in the Caribbean island of Dominica could be highly favourable, given the potential for financial benefits associated with such a project. On the downside, such projects are often associated with environmental...

Some concerns relating to the demographics of the region as they impact on agricultural production were discussed. Traditional agriculture was in many instances on the decline. Competitive elements have been seizing the opportunity to supply the region through import substitution. Small and...

Alcohol consumption is considered an important social activity but a major health risk in Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC). Alcohol consumption net benefits are doubtful and the factors influencing alcohol consumption in the LAC countries are not well documented. In this study, we...

Several Caribbean sugar producing countries are actively looking for viable alternatives to recover some of the expected lost revenues due to the WTO (World Trade Organization) ruling that sugar subsidies in the European Union (EU) are illegal. One alternative worth considering is exporting...

A common problem in agricultural credit markets in developing countries is the coexistence of a competitive market equilibrium interest rate and credit rationing. The literature typically explains the existence of credit rationing in competitive credit markets using adverse selection and moral...