| Popis: |
In this paper, I seek to answer the following question: How can microfinance institutions attract more people to take advantage of the lending services provided by microfinance institutions in rural India? Much research has been conducted on the effects of interest rates on attainment of clients of microfinance institutions but little attention has been paid to other terms and conditions of lending policies such as the payment plans and also other services provided by microfinance institutions. To address my research question, I have collected a rich dataset consisting of information on 6,798 households living in slums in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (India’s fifth largest city). My data comes from several datasets made available by the Centre for Microfinance. The specific data that I will be using was collected by Spandana Spoorthy Financial Limited, one of the world’s largest microfinance institutions. I expect changing payment plans and providing other services to have a larger effect on customer attainment than changing interest rates. I will be analyzing existing policies on microfinance loans using this dataset and other studies. Then, I will be using behavioral economics, specifically economic behavior anomalies, to propose new policies on microfinance loans in the hope of attracting more clients to microfinance institutions. |
