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Changes in Social Network Structure in Response to Exposure to Formal Credit Markets

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Listed:
  • Abhijit Banerjee
  • Emily Breza
  • Arun G Chandrasekhar
  • Esther Duflo
  • Matthew O Jackson
  • Cynthia Kinnan

Abstract

We show that the entry of formal financial institutions can have far-reaching and long-lasting impacts on informal lending and social networks more generally. We first study the introduction of microfinance in 75 villages in Karnataka, India, 43 of which were exposed to microfinance. Using difference-in-differences, we show that networks shrank more in exposed villages. Moreover, links between households that were both unlikely to borrow from microfinance were at least as likely to disappear as links involving likely borrowers. We replicate these surprising findings in the context of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in Hyderabad, where a microfinance institution randomly selected 52 of 104 neighbourhoods to enter first. Four years after all neighbourhoods were treated, households in early-entry neighbourhoods had credit access longer and had larger loans. We again find fewer social relationships between households in these neighbourhoods, even among those ex-ante unlikely to borrow. Because the results suggest global spillovers, atypical in usual models of network formation, we develop a new dynamic model of network formation that emphasizes chance meetings, where efforts to socialize generate a global network-level externality. Finally, we analyse informal borrowing and the sensitivity of consumption to income fluctuations. Households unlikely to take up microcredit suffer the greatest loss of informal borrowing and risk sharing, underscoring the global nature of the externality.

Suggested Citation

  • Abhijit Banerjee & Emily Breza & Arun G Chandrasekhar & Esther Duflo & Matthew O Jackson & Cynthia Kinnan, 2024. "Changes in Social Network Structure in Response to Exposure to Formal Credit Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(3), pages 1331-1372.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:91:y:2024:i:3:p:1331-1372.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/restud/rdad065
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    Cited by:

    1. Zenou, Yves & Biavaschi, Costanza & Giulietti, Corrado, 2021. "Social Networks and (Political) Assimilation in the Age of Mass Migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 16182, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Heitzig, Chris & O’Keeffe-O’Donovan, Rossa, 2024. "Spillover Effects and Diffusion of Savings Groups," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Murphy, David M.A., 2023. "Sobriety, social capital, and village network structures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    4. Abhirupa Das & Uday Bhanu Sinha, 2022. "Microfinance institution and moneylenders in a segmented rural credit market," Working papers 324, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    5. Hensel, Lukas & Tekleselassie, Tsegay & Witte, Marc J., 2021. "Formalized Employee Search and Labor Demand," IZA Discussion Papers 14839, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Eliana Carranza & Aletheia Donald & Florian Grosset & Supreet Kaur, 2022. "The Social Tax: Redistributive Pressure and Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 30438, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Cátia Batista & Marcel Fafchamps & Pedro C Vicente, 2022. "Keep It Simple: A Field Experiment on Information Sharing among Strangers [Changing Saving and Investment Behavior: The Impact of Financial Literacy Training and Reminders on Micro-Businesses]," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(4), pages 857-888.
    8. Choi, S. & Goyal, S. & Guo, F. & Moisan, F., 2024. "Experimental Evidence on Group Size Effects in Network Formation Games," Janeway Institute Working Papers 2412, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Osabutey, Ellis L.C. & Jackson, Terence, 2024. "Mobile money and financial inclusion in Africa: Emerging themes, challenges and policy implications," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    10. Eric Auerbach & Yong Cai, 2022. "Heterogeneous Treatment Effects for Networks, Panels, and other Outcome Matrices," Papers 2205.01246, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2022.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social networks; Network change; Network formation; Network evolution; Microfinance; Market exposure; Favor exchange; Social capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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