The chapters presented here provide, for the first time, a comprehensive and cutting-edge view of the subject – from both a legal and economic perspective. They start at the macro level of financial systems, moving towards the behaviours of lenders (commercial banks and micro-lenders),...

Most readers, especially those with car loans or home mortgages, know about collateral--property that the lender can take away from the borrower in the event that the borrower defaults. In low/middle income countries, it is understood that conservative lenders exclude firms from credit markets...