IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ejlwec/v40y2015i3p479-509.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Another “French paradox”: explaining why interest rates to microenterprises did not increase with the change in French usury legislation

Author

Listed:
  • Arvind Ashta
  • Laurence Attuel-Mendès
  • Zaka Ratsimalahelo

Abstract

Conventional wisdom indicates that the growth of credit may not materialize if credit rates remain capped by usury laws, as had long been the case in France. France therefore abolished usury ceilings on loans to microenterprise in an effort to increase financing for microentrepreneurs. This should have led to an increase in interest rates and increase in microcredit. However, we do not find any increase in interest rates and this is therefore a paradox. The paper provides a brief literature review and the salient features of the legislative changes in France. It follows this up with a presentation of interest rate movements. The discussion of possible explanations of the paradox includes classical market analysis (global interest rates, money supply, and competition), behavioral and institutional analysis (guarantees, Basel II and risk taking, legal concept of abusive support, protection for over-indebtedness, information asymmetry and limited liability) and softer institutional reasons (religion, risk-taking culture). Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Arvind Ashta & Laurence Attuel-Mendès & Zaka Ratsimalahelo, 2015. "Another “French paradox”: explaining why interest rates to microenterprises did not increase with the change in French usury legislation," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 479-509, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:40:y:2015:i:3:p:479-509
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-013-9387-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10657-013-9387-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10657-013-9387-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laurence Attuel-Mendes & Arvind Ashta, 2008. "French Legislation And The Development Of Credit Availability For Microenterprise," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 2(2), pages 123-137.
    2. Boyes, W J & Furnish, Dale Beck, 1984. "A Note on the Use of Incorporation as an Escape from Usury Ceilings," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 367-372, March.
    3. Joseph Harrison, 1980. "Spanish Economic History: From the Restoration to the Franco Regime," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 33(2), pages 259-275, May.
    4. Donald R. Hodgman, 1960. "Credit Risk and Credit Rationing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 74(2), pages 258-278.
    5. Samuel Hollander, 1999. "Jeremy Bentham and Adam Smith on the usury laws: a 'Smithian' reply to Bentham and a new problem," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(4), pages 523-551.
    6. R. J. Lister, 2006. "The composition of interest: The judaic prohibition," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 121-127.
    7. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    8. Vitalie Bumacov, 2012. "Panorama de la bancarisation en France," Working Papers hal-00690495, HAL.
    9. Strangways, Raymond & Yandle, Bruce, 1971. "Effect of State Usury Laws on Housing Starts in 1966," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 665-669, January.
    10. Peterson, Richard L, 1983. "Usury Laws and Consumer Credit: A Note," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(4), pages 1299-1304, September.
    11. Rudolph C. Blitz & Millard F. Long, 1965. "The Economics of Usury Regulation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(6), pages 608-608.
    12. Gale, William G, 1991. "Economic Effects of Federal Credit Programs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 133-152, March.
    13. Maria Pia Paganelli, 2003. "In Medio Stat Virtus: An Alternative View of Usury in Adam Smith's Thinking," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 21-48, Spring.
    14. Shleifer, Andrei, 2000. "Inefficient Markets: An Introduction to Behavioral Finance," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198292272.
    15. Douglas V. Austin & David A. Lindsley, 1976. "Ohio Usury Ceilings and Residential Real Estate Development," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 4(1), pages 83-95, March.
    16. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Patrick Honohan, 2004. "Financial Sector Policy and the Poor : Selected Findings and Issues," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14874.
    18. Beatriz Armendáriz & Jonathan Morduch, 2010. "The Economics of Microfinance, Second Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262014106, April.
    19. Constant Mews & Ibrahim Abraham, 2007. "Usury and Just Compensation: Religious and Financial Ethics in Historical Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 1-15, April.
    20. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    21. Maurice B. Goudzwaard, 1968. "Price Ceilings And Credit Rationing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 177-185, March.
    22. Bester, Helmut, 1985. "Screening vs. Rationing in Credit Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 850-855, September.
    23. Wayne Visser & Alastair Macintosh, 1998. "A short review of the historical critique of usury," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 175-189.
    24. Robins, Philip K, 1974. "The Effects of State Usury Ceilings on Single Family Homebuilding," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(1), pages 227-235, March.
    25. Ostas, James R, 1976. "Effects of Usury Ceilings in the Mortgage Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 31(3), pages 821-834, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Raffaella Barone & Donato Masciandaro, 2017. "Crime, Money Laundering, And Credit Markets: Can Usury Exist At The Zero Lower Bound?," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1761, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    2. Raffaella Barone & Donato Masciandaro, 2019. "Cryptocurrency or usury? Crime and alternative money laundering techniques," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 233-254, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. William Boyes, 1982. "In defense of the downtrodden: Usury laws?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 269-276, January.
    2. Bodenhorn, Howard, 2007. "Usury ceilings and bank lending behavior: Evidence from nineteenth century New York," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 179-202, April.
    3. Danisewicz, Piotr & Elard, Ilaf, 2023. "The real effects of financial technology: Marketplace lending and personal bankruptcy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Howard Bodenhorn, 2005. "Usury Ceilings, Relationships and Bank Lending Behavior: Evidence from Nineteenth Century," NBER Working Papers 11734, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Charles A.E. Goodhart & Dimitrios P. Tsomocos & Xuan Wang, 2023. "Support for small businesses amid COVID‐19," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(358), pages 612-652, April.
    6. LaDue, Eddy L. & Allen, Sandra, 1993. "Regulatory, Efficiency, and Management Issues Affecting Rural Financial Markets," Staff Papers 121348, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    7. Neyer, Ulrike, 2004. "Asymmetric information in credit markets--implications for the transition in Eastern Germany," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 61-78, March.
    8. Giuseppe Coco & David De Meza, 2009. "In Defense of Usury Laws," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(8), pages 1691-1703, December.
    9. Donna C. Vandenbrink, 1982. "The effects of usury ceilings," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 6(Midyear), pages 44-55.
    10. George A. Akerlof, 2003. "Behavioral Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Behavior," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 47(1), pages 25-47, March.
    11. Gaudeul, Alexia, 2009. "A (micro) course in microeconomic theory for MSc students," MPRA Paper 15388, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Laurie Bréban & André Lapidus, 2019. "Adam Smith on lotteries: an interpretation and formal restatement," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 157-197, January.
    13. Constant Mews & Adrian Walsh, 2011. "Usury and its Critics: From the Middle Ages to Modernity," Chapters, in: Mohamed Ariff & Munawar Iqbal (ed.), The Foundations of Islamic Banking, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Raffaella Barone & Donato Masciandaro, 2019. "Cryptocurrency or usury? Crime and alternative money laundering techniques," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 233-254, April.
    15. Langer, Thomas & Waller, Peter, 1997. "Implementing behavioral concepts into banking theory : the impact of loss acersion on collateralization," Papers 97-33, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    16. Toni Ahnert & Martin Kuncl, 2024. "Government Loan Guarantees, Market Liquidity, and Lending Standards," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(7), pages 4502-4532, July.
    17. Steinar Holden, 2012. "Implications of insights from behavioral economics for macroeconomic models," IMK Working Paper 99-2012, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    18. Hannon, Simona, 2024. "Essays on consumer finance," Other publications TiSEM 4958b451-b30a-4957-9763-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    19. Olapeju Comfort Ogunmokun & Oluwasoye P. Mafimisebi & Demola Obembe, 2023. "Prospect theory and bank credit risk decision-making behaviour: a systematic literature review and future research agenda," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 1-25, April.
    20. Tristan Caballero-Montes, 2023. "Integrating market conditions into regulatory decisions on microfinance interest rates: does competition matter?," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 201-232, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microfinance; Microcredit; Usury; Behavioral finance; Law and economics; Institutional analysis; Interest rate; B52; B59; E4; G21; K00;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • B59 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Other
    • E4 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:40:y:2015:i:3:p:479-509. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.