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Informal sector and economic development: The credit supply channel

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  • Massenot, Baptiste
  • Straub, Stéphane

Abstract

The standard view suggests that removing barriers to entry and improving judicial enforcement reduces informality and boosts investment and growth. However, a general equilibrium approach shows that this conclusion may hold to a lesser extent in countries with a constrained supply of funds because of, for example, a more concentrated banking sector or lower financial openness. When the formal sector grows larger in those countries, more entrepreneurs become creditworthy, but the higher pressure on the credit market limits further capital accumulation. We show empirical evidence consistent with these predictions.

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  • Massenot, Baptiste & Straub, Stéphane, 2015. "Informal sector and economic development: The credit supply channel," SAFE Working Paper Series 106, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:safewp:106
    DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2611570
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    Cited by:

    1. Gutiérrez-Romero, Roxana, 2021. "Inequality, persistence of the informal economy, and club convergence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. Carolina Rodríguez Zamora, 2018. "Bank Account Ownership by Microentrepreneurs in Mexico," Investigación Conjunta-Joint Research, in: María José Roa García & Diana Mejía (ed.), Financial Decisions of Households and Financial Inclusion: Evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 13, pages 429-461, Centro de Estudios Monetarios Latinoamericanos, CEMLA.
    3. Migheli, Matteo, 2016. "Land Ownership, Access to Informal Credit and Its Cost in Rural Vietnam," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201619, University of Turin.
    4. Atangana Ondoa Henri & Seabrook Arthur Mveng, 2022. "Did state antiquity matter for the size of the informal economy?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 115-131, June.
    5. repec:kqi:journl:2018-2-1-1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Salvatore Capasso & Franziska Ohnsorge & Shu Yu, 2022. "Informality and financial development: A literature review," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 90(5), pages 587-608, September.
    7. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2022. "Financial development and tax revenue in developing countries: investigating the international trade channel," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-26, January.
    8. Capasso, Salvatore & Ohnsorge, Franziska & Yu, Shu, 2022. "From Financial Development to Informality: A Causal Link," CEPR Discussion Papers 17565, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Marã­A Paula Vargas & Erick Lahura, 2022. "Financial Development, Financial Inclusion And Informality: New International Evidence," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-42, September.
    10. Kaushal Basnet, 2018. "Access to Credit Markets and Decisions of an Entrepreneur," Journal of Development Innovations, KarmaQuest International, vol. 2(1), pages 39-56, May.
    11. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2019. "Financial Development and Tax Revenue in Developing Countries: Investigating the International Trade and Economic Growth Channels," EconStor Preprints 206628, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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