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Creditworthiness as a signal of trustworthiness: field experiment in microfinance and consequences on causality in impact studies

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  • Leonardo Becchetti

    (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

  • Pierluigi Conzo

    (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

Abstract

Creditworthiness and trustworthiness are almost synonyms since the act of conferring a loan has the indirect effect of signaling the trustworthiness of the borrower. We test the creditworthiness-trustworthiness nexus in an investment game experiment on a sample of participants/non participants to a microfinance program in Argentina and find that trustors give significantly more to (and believe they will receive more from) microfinance borrowers. Trustees’ first and second order beliefs are also consistent with this picture. Our findings identify a “horizontal trustworthiness externality” which creates a direct (loan-performance) causality nexus since the mere loan provision increases the borrower’s attractiveness as a business partner.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonardo Becchetti & Pierluigi Conzo, 2009. "Creditworthiness as a signal of trustworthiness: field experiment in microfinance and consequences on causality in impact studies," Econometica Working Papers wp17, Econometica.
    • Handle: RePEc:ent:wpaper:wp17
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    Cited by:

    1. Jérémie Bertrand & Paul-Olivier Klein & Jean-Loup Soula, 2022. "Liquidity Creation and Trust Environment," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 201-232, December.
    2. Leonardo Becchetti & Massimo Cermelli, 2018. "Civil economy: definition and strategies for sustainable well-living," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 65(3), pages 329-357, September.
    3. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.
    4. Pierluigi Conzo, 2018. "Natural Disasters and Social Preferences: The Effect of Tsunami-Memories on Cheating in Sri Lanka," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1912-1931, October.
    5. Davaadorj, Zagdbazar & Enkhtaivan, Bolortuya & Lu, Wenling, 2024. "The role of job titles in online peer-to-peer lending: An empirical investigation on skilled borrowers," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    6. Cozarenco, Anastasia & Szafarz, Ariane, 2020. "The regulation of prosocial lending: Are loan ceilings effective?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Aaron H. Anglin & Jeremy C. Short & David J. Ketchen Jr. & Thomas H. Allison & Aaron F. McKenny, 2020. "Third-Party Signals in Crowdfunded Microfinance: The Role of Microfinance Institutions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(4), pages 623-644, July.
    8. Ana Paula Matias Gama & Ricardo Emanuel Correia & Mário Augusto & Fábio Duarte, 2023. "Third-party signals in crowdfunded microfinance: which microfinance institutions boost crowdfunding among refugee entrepreneurs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 559-586, August.
    9. Leonardo Becchetti, 2012. "Voting with the wallet," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 59(3), pages 245-268, September.
    10. Jérémie Bertrand & Jean-Loup Soula & Paul-Olivier Klein, 2022. "Liquidity Creation and Trust Environment," Post-Print hal-03955028, HAL.
    11. Lucia Dalla Pellegrina & Damla Diriker & Paolo Landoni & Davide Moro & Mahinda Wijesiri, 2024. "Financial and social sustainability in the European microfinance sector," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1249-1292, October.
    12. Shahriar, Abu Zafar M. & Unda, Luisa A. & Alam, Quamrul, 2020. "Gender differences in the repayment of microcredit: The mediating role of trustworthiness," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    13. Leonardo Becchetti & Pierluigi Conzo, 2014. "The effects of microfinance on child schooling: a retrospective approach," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 89-106, January.
    14. Ha Ta & Terry L. Esper & Kenneth Ford & Sebastian Garcia‐Dastuge, 2018. "Trustworthiness Change and Relationship Continuity after Contract Breach in Financial Supply Chains," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 54(4), pages 42-61, October.
    15. Anastasia Cozarenco & Ariane Szafarz, 2024. "How to identify lending bias when the lender's goal is not profit?," Working Papers CEB 24-007, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Leonardo Becchetti, 2013. "Ethical finance: an introduction," Chapters, in: Luigino Bruni & Stefano Zamagni (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Reciprocity and Social Enterprise, chapter 13, pages 134-143, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    field experiment; microfinance; investment game; trust; trustworthiness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

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