Due to opaque information and weak enforcement in emerging loan markets, the need for collateral is high, whereas borrowers lack adequate assets to pledge as collateral. How is this puzzle solved? We find for a representative sample from Northeast Thailand that indeed most loans do not include...

This paper examines whether recently introduced "village funds", one of the largest microfinance programs ever implemented, improve access to finance. Village funds are analyzed in a cross-sectional approach in relation to competing financial institutions. We find, first, that they reach the...

We provide new micro evidence on the discussion about the relationship between financial development and welfare. Relying on the concept of local financial development our analysis focuses on three dimensions of household welfare: vulnerability to poverty, investment, and consumption smoothing....

The authors provide new microevidence on the relationship between financial development and welfare. Relying on the concept of local financial development, their analysis focuses on two dimensions of household welfare: investment and consumption. The results show that financial development is...

Although the use of technical analysis in foreign exchange markets is well known, enduring and possibly profitably used, it is not well understood. In this paper implications of the efficient market hypothesis for the use of technical currency analysis are examined by an evaluation of the...