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 language | English |
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Journal | Annals of Finance |
Early online date | 28 Jul 2024 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-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