Savings Behavioral Barriers to Saving This excerpt corresponds to the introduction of the lecture on savings constraints , especially external barriers to saving among the poor. Here’s a detailed breakdown of this section: 🎯 Section Summary: External Barriers to Savings 🔹 Main Point : Even when the poor want to save, formal financial institutions often make it difficult or costly for them to do so. This leads to the central policy question: Is universal access to formal savings accounts an effective or meaningful intervention for the poor? 🧠 Key Concepts and Issues Highlighted : 1. High Transaction Costs for Banks : A poor person might want to save small daily amounts (e.g., $0.20/day). But for banks, handling such small deposits is not profitable due to: Receipt printing Regulatory reporting (e.g., to the central bank) Labor and administrative costs Even if they earn interest (e.g., 10%), on $0.20 they would make just $0.02 annually , whi...
Credit III The Classic Microcredit Model This section introduces the structure and key features of microfinance , especially in the context of moral hazard and institutional design. Here’s a concise breakdown: Key Features of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs): Target Borrowers: Typically lend to women (though some also lend to men). Focused on very poor individuals or households. Loan Structure: Small initial loans , e.g., $200. Repaid in frequent, small installments (e.g., weekly $4.80 payments for 50 weeks). Loan size increases slowly over time (~10% real growth per year), providing dynamic incentives . Group Lending with Joint Liability: Borrowers are grouped (e.g., 5–10 people). Joint liability means members are responsible for each other’s loans. In practice, this is often enforced via future loan eligibility (not legal action). If one defaults, others may be denied future loans . Meetings and Monitoring: Regular group me...