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on Community banking and credit unions |
| By: | Francis Annan; Seth Garz |
| Abstract: | Expanding access to financial services may not be enough to develop markets in low-income settings: providers also need to be held accountable to consumers. We test this in a field experiment across 195 rural Sierra Leonean communities, upgrading Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) into mobile money and bank agents, cross-randomized with a monthly consumer feedback mechanism. Upgrading expands access, but feedback drives large operational improvements (+20.5 pp, 85%), particularly in privacy and consumer protection, raising usage and revenues. Upgraded VSLAs also show higher savings digitization and higher incomes, evidence that disciplining agent actions benefits not only consumers but also the principal that finances and stands behind its agent. Interpreted through a framework of delegated intermediation, we show accountability, not infrastructure alone, aligns provider incentives with consumer welfare and is central to designing scalable financial intermediaries. |
| JEL: | C93 D22 D82 G21 O17 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35912 |
| By: | Arnaud Natal (BSE - Bordeaux sciences économiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, IFP - Institut Français de Pondichéry - MEAE - Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Damien Girollet (BSE - Bordeaux sciences économiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | How does social proximity between borrowers and lenders influence informal lending terms in rural areas of the Global South? We answer this question using a unique dataset collected in 2020-2021 in rural South India. We examine four dimensions of loan agreements: interest rates, collateral, services provided by lenders and borrowers. We analyse the role of social proximity (i.e., homophily and strength of ties) in determining credit terms using loan-level probit models. We find two key results. First, social proximity operates as an ambivalent resource: while homophily and strong ties reduce the financial cost of borrowing, they are also associated with reciprocal obligations. Second, the benefits of social proximity are unequally distributed across social groups. These findings suggest that informal credit markets are deeply embedded in local hierarchies and that policies addressing household indebtedness must go beyond financial inclusion to tackle the structural inequalities shaping credit relations. |
| Keywords: | Tamil Nadu, Strength of ties, Homophily, Debt, Interpersonal networks |
| Date: | 2027 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05701286 |
| By: | Wenxin Du; Catherine Huang; David Scharfstein |
| Abstract: | Cross-border payments remain slow and expensive despite significant improvements in digital financial infrastructure over the past several decades. This paper compares the cost of sending cross-border payments across three payment rails: traditional banks operating through the correspondent banking system and SWIFT, fintech money trans fer operators (MTOs) such as Wise, Remitly, and the digital arm of Western Union, and stablecoin-based transfers. We construct harmonized all-in costs measures across these three rails for different corridors and payment values. We find that fintech MTOs have significantly compressed the costs of cross-border payments, and demonstrate that stablecoins are not a panacea for frictions in cross-border payments. |
| Keywords: | cross-border payments, fintechs, stablecoins, SWIFT |
| JEL: | E42 F31 G21 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:1385 |
| By: | Xiaonan (Flora) Ma; Raluca Roman; Aditi Routh |
| Abstract: | Prohibiting payday lending can reduce complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by 90 percent. |
| Keywords: | Payday lending; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; CFPB; Consumer financial regulation; Consumer complaints; Complaint resolution; Financial spillovers; Cross-market spillovers; Debt collection; credit reporting; Household finance; banking market structure |
| JEL: | G21 G28 G51 D14 D18 K23 |
| Date: | 2026–10–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedkrw:103924 |
| By: | Viginta Ivaškaitė-Tamošiūnė |
| Abstract: | Statistics increasingly need to capture the complexity of inequalities experienced by diverse populations. This paper provides a conceptual and methodological overview of how an intersectional perspective can contribute to this objective by considering how multiple individual and social characteristics interact in complex, overlapping and non-additive ways within broader social and institutional contexts. It examines how intersectional analysis can reveal inequalities and population groups that may remain hidden in aggregate statistics or single-axis analysis, thereby supporting more targeted and evidence-based policymaking. The paper discusses key statistical challenges, including data availability and quality, analytical complexity, interpretation and communication, and ethical and privacy considerations. It reviews a range of complementary approaches, from descriptive and regression-based methods to multilevel modelling, cluster and latent class analysis, machine learning and mixed methods, highlighting their strengths, limitations and appropriate use. The paper provides practical guidance for integrating an intersectional perspective into statistical analysis and production. |
| Keywords: | Disaggregated data, Evidence-based policy making, inequalities, Intersectional analysis, Intersectionality, Multilevel modelling, Statistical challenges, Statistical methods, Statistics |
| JEL: | C10 C18 D63 |
| Date: | 2026–10–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stdaaa:2026/04-en |
| By: | González-Jiménez, Paulina; Barriga Ortiz, Pablo Andres; Berrones-Flemmig, Claudia Nelly; Nouri-Fritsche, Neda |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the potential of the German tourism market to support Sustainable Indigenous Tourism (SIT) in Mexico. Against a backdrop of growing global demand for transformative, values-driven travel, Mexico's reliance on mass tourism has generated severe environmental degradation and the marginalization of indigenous communities. Sustainable Indigenous Tourism-defined by indigenous ownership, cultural preservation, and community-led economic empowerment-offers a systemic alternative aligned with ethical consumption and sustainability goals. Grounded in an integrative theoretical framework combining the Theory of Planned Behavior, Theory of Consumption Values, and Past Behavior, this mixed-methods research examines German travelers' interest and willingness to pay (WTP) for SIT experiences. Quantitative findings from a structured survey of 204 respondents, analyzed via multiple regression and exploratory factor analysis, reveal that perceived value (Ø = 0.525, p |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Indigenous Tourism, Willingness to Pay, German Tourism Market, Mexico, Macromarketing |
| JEL: | M O Q Z |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iubhbm:344087 |
| By: | Jonas Hennrich; Klaus Wohlrabe |
| Abstract: | Do major football tournaments move economic sentiment, and does it matter whether a country's national team takes part? We combine the European Commission's harmonized business and consumer surveys for the 27 EU member states from 1991 to 2025 with 17 World Cups and European Championships. The Economic Sentiment Indicator is about 2.3 points higher in tournament months than in other months of the same calendar year, but it is similarly elevated in the two months before; consumer confidence shows no robust pattern. Because the tournament calendar is common to all countries and almost all tournaments fall in even years, this association rests on 17 events and cannot be separated from a broader two-year rhythm in sentiment; relative to randomly drawn years, it is unusual before 2020 and marginal in the full sample (p = 0.08 to 0.14). Participation varies across countries and can be tested with full time fixed effects, under weaker assumptions. We find no statistically significant participation premium in the baseline specification and no participation-specific jump at kick-off in any specification; large premia are hard to reconcile with the data, smaller ones remain possible. |
| Keywords: | economic sentiment, expectations, FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, consumer confidence, business surveys, randomization inference |
| JEL: | D84 E32 L83 Z20 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_13070 |