Group versus individual liability : a field experiment in the Philippines, Vol. 1 of 1

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Group versus individual liability : a field experiment in the Philippines

Author:	Gine, Xavier; Karlan, Dean S.;	Collection Title:	Policy, Research working paper ; no. WPS 4008Impact evaluation series ; no. IE 7
Country:	Philippines;	Date Stored:	2006/09/18
Document Date:	2006/09/01	Document Type:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English	Region:	East Asia and Pacific
Report Number:	WPS4008	SubTopics:	Knowledge Economy; Banks & Banking Reform; Education for the Knowledge Economy; Banking Law; Contract Law
Volume No:	1 of 1

Summary: Group liability is often portrayed as the key innovation that led to the explosion of the microcredit movement, which started with the Grameen Bank in the 1970s and continues on today with hundreds of institutions around the world. Group lending claims to improve repayment rates and lower transaction costs when lending to the poor by providing incentives for peers to screen, monitor, and enforce each other's loans. However, some argue that group liability creates excessive pressure and discourages good clients from borrowing, jeopardizing both growth and sustainability. Therefore, it remains unclear whether group liability improves the lenderﾒs overall profitability and the poor's access to financial markets. The authors worked with a bank in the Philippines to conduct a field experiment to examine these issues. They randomly assigned half of the 169 pre-existing group liability 'centers' of approximately twenty women to individual-liability centers (treatment) and kept the other half as-is with group liability (control). We find that the conversion to individual liability does not affect the repayment rate, and leads to higher growth in center size by attracting new clients.


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