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Should Access to Credit be a Right ?

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Author Info
Marek Hudon () (Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels and Harvard University, Boston.)

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Abstract

Discussion on financial ethics increasingly includes the problem of exclusion of the poorer segments of society from the financial system and access to credit. This paper explores the ethical dimensions surrounding the concept of a human right to credit. If access to credit is directly instrumental to economic development, poverty reduction and the improved welfare of all citizens, then one can proclaim, as Nobel Prize Laureate M. Yunus has done, that it is a moral necessity to establish credit as a right. Arguments both supporting and opposing the concept of a right to credit are presented. While there may be general agreement that access to financial services may provide a pathway out of poverty, granting a universal right could induce perverse effects such as overindebtedness. Bearing in mind the ultimate goal of proponents of this right as well as the potential harmful consequences, this paper offers a new perspective on the question of access to credit based on a goal-right system.

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File URL: http://www.solvay.edu/EN/Research/Bernheim/documents/wp07008.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function: First version, 2007
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Université Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Centre Emile Bernheim (CEB) in its series Working Papers CEB with number 07-008.RS.

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Length: 24 pages
Date of creation: May 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:07-008

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Related research
Keywords: credit; financial exclusion; human right; justice; microfinance;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
B0 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - General
O16 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment
Q14 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Finance

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Pretes, Michael, 2002. "Microequity and Microfinance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1341-1353, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. P. B. Anand, 2007. "Right to water and access to water: an assessment," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 511-526. [Downloadable!]
  3. Rahman, Aminur, 1999. "Micro-credit initiatives for equitable and sustainable development: Who pays?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-82, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Gauri, Varun, 2003. "Social rights and economics : claims to health care and education in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3006, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-6-25.

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