Village Savings and Loan Associations and Self-Help Groups have the features of both a borrowing and a savings technology. They may therefore bring together savers and borrowers, increasing financial intermediation in villages with low access to formal banking. On the other hand, such intermediation may be impeded by limited liability, or by broader social frictions. To test for evidence of int...

This paper examines the impact of a public credit registry on the repayment behavior of borrowers. We implement an experimental credit market in which loan repayment is not third-party enforceable. We compare market outcome with a credit registry to that without a credit registry. This experiment is conducted for two market environments: first a market in which interactions between borrowers an...

Abstract A decentralized banking system is marked by geographical dispersion of banks with close proximity to their borrowers and strong long-term relationships between based on soft, tacit, as well hard, codified information. It important for promoting the development small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) particularly in regional locations. In contrast, UK has a highly centralized, concentrate...

The banking sectors in several Central and Eastern European countries are characterized by a two-tier structure, in which a few large banks dominate the deposit market but are very inactive in the loan market with private borrowers, while many small banks engage in lending but have only small shares of the deposit market. The large banks act as net lenders in the interbank market, while small b...

This paper examines two speci®c aspects of stage 1 of the Bank for International SettlementÕs (BISÕs) proposed reforms to the 8% risk-based capital ratio. We argue that relying on ``traditional'' agency ratings could produce cyclically lagging rather leading capital requirements, resulting in an enhanced rather than reduced degree of instability in the banking and ®nancial system. Despite this ...

In Bangladesh, micro credit programs have positive socioeconomic impact on the rural women borrowers. However, it is perceived that the micro credit programs help the rural women borrowers to survive only and do not help them to develop entrepreneurial capabilities. Hence, this paper aims at identifying the factors related to the development of entrepreneurship among the rural women borrowers t...