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on Microfinance |
| By: | Ambrosius, Christian; Cuecuecha, Alfredo |
| Abstract: | While recent literature has pointed out that migrants´ remittances have a positive impact on savings with financial institutions, findings with respect to access to and the use of loans have been ambiguous. This paper investigates whether the reception of remittances facilitates taking up loans from formal or informal sources among Mexican households and finds positive and statistically significant effects of remittances on borrowing and on the existence of debts. We address methodological concerns of selection bias and reverse causality through household fixed effects and an instrumental strategy that exploits distance to train lines and labor market conditions in the US as exogenous determinants of remittances. |
| JEL: | F24 D14 I15 O12 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:201419&r=mfd |
| By: | Izabela Karpowicz |
| Abstract: | Financial inclusion has been one of the key pillars of Colombia’s development strategy for a number of years. Financial inclusion policies have aimed at channeling microcredit to poor, spreading formal banking system usage, fostering electronic payment acceptance, and making financial services more affordable. Using simulations from a general equilibrium model it is possible to identify the most binding financial sector frictions that preclude financial inclusion of enterprises, and study the effects on growth and inequality of efforts to remove these frictions. The study finds that lowering contraints on collateral promises higher growth while inequality is better tackled through measures that lower the financial participation cost. |
| Keywords: | Financial services;Colombia;Banks;Income inequality;Economic growth;General equilibrium models;Financial deepening, financial inclusion, access to finance, inequality |
| Date: | 2014–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:14/166&r=mfd |