In this paper we analyze the role of peer solidarity in fostering productive investments in the context of microfi nance. When there is asymmetric information between lenders and borrowers and loans are not collateralized, borrowers may divert loans towards current consumption rather than...

With the Great Crisis of 2008-2009 we have witnessed a relevant episode of macroeconomic vulnerability affecting many countries. To what extent such vulnerability has depended upon the design of light touch (LT) banking regulation? And to what extent other institutional factors, different from...

In this paper we analyze the role of peer solidarity in fostering productive investments in the context of microfinance. When there is asymmetric information between lenders and borrowers and loans are not collateralized, borrowers may divert loans towards current consumption rather than...

We investigate the reasons that induce policymakers to assign banking supervision to central banks rather than involving authorities outside the banking sector. On the one hand, empirical results provide evidence that policymakers prefer that, conditional on several known features affecting...

In this paper we present a model of competition between informal lending and group lending. The paper is organized as follows. The second paragraph reviews the economic literature that analyzes separately group contracts and informal lending markets. The third paragraph tries to answer the...