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The Effects of Usury Laws: Evidence from the Online Loan Market

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  • Oren Rigbi

    (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Abstract

Usury laws cap the interest rates that lenders can charge. Using data from Prosper.com, an online lending marketplace, I investigate the effects of these laws. The key to my empirical strategy is that there was initially substantial variability in states' interest rate caps, ranging from 6% to 36%. A behind-the-scenes change in loan origination, however, suddenly increased the cap to 36%. The main findings of the study are that higher interest rate caps increase the probability that a loan will be funded, especially if the borrower was previously just "outside the money." I do not find, however, changes in loan amounts and default probability. The interest rate paid rises slightly, probably because online lending is substantially, yet imperfectly, integrated with the general credit market. © 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Oren Rigbi, 2013. "The Effects of Usury Laws: Evidence from the Online Loan Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1238-1248, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:95:y:2013:i:4:p:1238-1248
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Hold the Check: Overdrafts, Fee Caps, and Financial Inclusion
      by Blog Author in Liberty Street Economics on 2021-06-30 11:02:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Rajkamal Iyer & Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Erzo F. P. Luttmer & Kelly Shue, 2016. "Screening Peers Softly: Inferring the Quality of Small Borrowers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(6), pages 1554-1577, June.
    2. Lukongo, Onyumbe Enumbe & Miller, Thomas, 2017. "Adverse Consequences of the Binding Constitutional Interest Rate Cap in the State of Arkansas," Working Papers 07446, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    3. Avi Goldfarb & Shane M. Greenstein & Catherine E. Tucker, 2015. "Introduction to "Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy"," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy, pages 1-17, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Onyumbe Enumbe Ben Lukongo & Thomas W. Miller, 2022. "The cost of rate caps: Evidence from Arkansas," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 881-909, December.
    5. Dongyu Chen & Xiaolin Li & Fujun Lai, 2017. "Gender discrimination in online peer-to-peer credit lending: evidence from a lending platform in China," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 553-583, December.
    6. Dasgupta, Kabir & Mason, Brenden J., 2020. "The effect of interest rate caps on bankruptcy: Synthetic control evidence from recent payday lending bans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Madeira, Carlos, 2019. "The impact of interest rate ceilings on households’ credit access: Evidence from a 2013 Chilean legislation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 166-179.
    9. Seth M. Freedman & Ginger Zhe Jin, 2011. "Learning by Doing with Asymmetric Information: Evidence from Prosper.com," NBER Working Papers 16855, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Miller, Sarah, 2015. "Information and default in consumer credit markets: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 45-70.
    11. J. Brandon Bolen & Gregory Elliehausen & Thomas W. Miller, 2023. "Credit for me but not for thee: the effects of the Illinois rate cap," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(3), pages 397-420, December.
    12. Jennifer L. Dlugosz & Brian T. Melzer & Donald P. Morgan, 2021. "Who Pays the Price? Overdraft Fee Ceilings and the Unbanked," Staff Reports 973, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    13. Juan Sebastian Cubillos-Rocha & Juliana Gamboa-Arbelaez & Luis Fernando Melo-Velandia & Sara Restrepo-Tamayo & Maria Jose Roa-Garcia & Mauricio Villamizar-Villegas, 2021. "Effects of interest rate caps on credit access," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 117-139, December.
    14. Zaiyan Wei & Mingfeng Lin, 2017. "Market Mechanisms in Online Peer-to-Peer Lending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(12), pages 4236-4257, December.
    15. Freedman, Seth & Jin, Ginger Zhe, 2017. "The information value of online social networks: Lessons from peer-to-peer lending," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 185-222.
    16. Danisewicz, Piotr & Elard, Ilaf, 2023. "The real effects of financial technology: Marketplace lending and personal bankruptcy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    17. Jiaying Deng & Hossein Ghasemkhani & Yong Tan & Arvind K Tripathi, 2023. "Actions speak louder than words: Imputing users’ reputation from transaction history," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(4), pages 1096-1111, April.
    18. Laura Marcela Capera Romero, 2021. "The Effects of Usury Ceilings on Consumers Welfare: Evidence from the Microcredit Market in Colombia," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-055/IV, Tinbergen Institute.
    19. JJ. Cao-Alvira & LG Deidda, 2013. "Financial liberalization and the development of microcredit," Working Paper CRENoS 201324, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    20. Capera Romero, Laura, 2020. "Essays on competition, regulation and innovation in the banking industry," Other publications TiSEM 5185bee5-c023-4219-90db-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    21. Alexander W. Butler & Jess Cornaggia & Umit G. Gurun, 2017. "Do Local Capital Market Conditions Affect Consumers’ Borrowing Decisions?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(12), pages 4175-4187, December.
    22. Yinghui Chen & Xiaolin Gong & Chien-Chi Chu & Yang Cao, 2018. "Access to the Internet and Access to Finance: Theory and Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-38, July.
    23. Yingxiu Zhao & Wei Zhang & Xiangyu Kong, 2019. "Dynamic Cross-Correlations between Participants’ Attentions to P2P Lending and Offline Loan in the Private Lending Market," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-8, December.
    24. María José Roa & Alejandra Villegas & Ignacio Garrón, 2020. "Effects of interest rate caps on microcredit: evidence from a natural experiment in Bolivia," Development Research Working Paper Series 03/2020, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    person-to-person lending; consumer credit; usury laws; financial market regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

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