Abstract

We show that banks can provide loans at low costs to high-risk borrowers in the form of a group lending contract in which all members are jointly liable for their loans. By providing such contracts borrowers self-insure against some of the default risk the bank faces. We determine the optimal group size in a competitive banking system and find that it is reasonably small and borrowers internalize an increasing fraction of the risk the higher their risks are.
Original languageEnglish
JournalAnnals of Finance
Early online date28 Jul 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 28 Jul 2024

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Keywords

  • D82
  • G21
  • Group lending
  • Joint liability
  • Microfinance
  • O16
  • Self-insurance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Finance
  • General Economics,Econometrics and Finance

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