Discount rates and credit markets: theory and evidence from rural India

Pender, John L. 1996. Discount rates and credit markets: theory and evidence from rural India. Journal of Development Economics 50(2): 257-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3878(96)00400-2

Three models of credit markets - (1) the permanent income model, (2) upward sloping credit supply to individual borrowers, and (3) constrained credit due to imperfect enforcement - are tested using credit market data and an experimental study of individuals' discount rates in south India. The permanent income model is rejected by both the discount rate and the credit market data. The discount rate data are consistent with either of the other two models, while the credit market data are consistent with a combination of these two models. Other explanations are found to be insufficient to explain the results of this study.