Growing Pains in financial development : institutional weakness and investment efficiency

Abstract

There is little evidence that the expansion of microfinance has reduced poverty, but is instead increasingly associated with problematic multiple borrowing at high interest rates and high levels of debt and default. We develop a model that rationalizes these outcomes-if entrepreneurs cannot commit to exclusive borrowing from a single lender, expanding financial access by introducing multiple lenders may severely backfire. Capital allocation is distorted away from the most productive uses. Entrepreneurs choose inefficient and limited-growth endeavors. These problems are exacerbated when borrowers have access to more lenders, explaining why increased access to finance does not always improve outcomes.