This paper analyses the long-term effects of improved small-scale lending, often provided by microfinance institutions set up with the support of development aid. The analysis shows that some common assumptions about microfinance are not true at all: First, it shows that the impact on income...

The extension of long-term loans, e.g. to finance housing, is adversely affected by inflation. For one thing, the higher nominal interest rates charged by the banks in response to inflation mean that borrowers have to make (nominally) higher interest payments, which unnecessarily reduces their...

Information asymmetries make it difficult for banks to assess accurately whether specific entrepreneurs are able and/or willing to repay their loans. This leads to implicit interest rate ceilings, i.e. banks refuse to increase their interest rates beyond this ceiling as this would lower their...

This paper analyses the long-term effects of improved small-scale lending, often provided by microfinance institutions set up with the support of development aid. The analysis shows that some common assumptions about microfinance are not true at all: First, it shows that the impact on income...

Information asymmetries make it difficult for banks to assess accurately whetherspecific entrepreneurs are able and/or willing to repay their loans. This leads toimplicit interest rate ceilings, i.e. banks “refuse” to increase their interest ratesbeyond this ceiling as this would lower their...