{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-post-query-tsx","path":"/research/repayment-flexibility-can-reduce-financial-stress-a-randomized-control-trial-with-microfinance-clients-in-india/","result":{"pageContext":{"post":{"slug":"/research/repayment-flexibility-can-reduce-financial-stress-a-randomized-control-trial-with-microfinance-clients-in-india/","title":"Repayment Flexibility Can Reduce Financial Stress: A Randomized Control Trial with Microfinance Clients in India","date":"Sep 26, 2012","timeToRead":1,"description":"Financial stress is widely believed to cause health problems. However, policies seeking to relieve financial stress by limiting debt levels of poor households may directly worsen their economic well-being. We evaluate an alternative policy –increasing the repayment flexibility of debt contracts.","body":"function _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"Repayment Flexibility Can Reduce Financial Stress: A Randomized Control Trial with Microfinance Clients in India\",\n  \"date\": \"2012-09-26\",\n  \"template\": \"post\",\n  \"slug\": \"repayment-flexibility-can-reduce-financial-stress-a-randomized-control-trial-with-microfinance-clients-in-india\",\n  \"postedLink\": \"https://riceinstitute.org/research/repayment-flexibility-can-reduce-financial-stress-a-randomized-control-trial-with-microfinance-clients-in-india/\",\n  \"description\": \"Financial stress is widely believed to cause health problems. However, policies seeking to relieve financial stress by limiting debt levels of poor households may directly worsen their economic well-being. We evaluate an alternative policy –increasing the repayment flexibility of debt contracts.\",\n  \"tags\": \"Research\",\n  \"banner\": \"\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, [\"components\"]);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Authors: Erica Field, Rohini Pande, John Papp, Y. Jeanette Park\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Published in: \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"PloS one\")), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"https://github.com/riceinstitute/content/blob/release/research/field-et-al-2012-repayment-flexibility-can-reduce-financial-stress-a-randomized-control-trial-with-microfinance-clients-in-india.pdf\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Download Paper\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Abstract:\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Financial stress is widely believed to cause health problems. However, policies seeking to relieve financial stress by limiting\\xA0debt levels of poor households may directly worsen their economic well-being. We evaluate an alternative policy \\u2013increasing the repayment flexibility of debt contracts. \"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"A field experiment randomly assigned microfinance clients to a\\xA0monthly or a traditional weekly installment schedule (N = 200). We used cell phones to gather survey data on income,\\xA0expenditure, and financial stress every 48 hours over seven weeks. \"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Clients repaying monthly were 51 percent less likely to\\xA0report feeling \\u2018\\u2018worried, tense, or anxious\\u2019\\u2019 about repaying, were 54 percent more likely to report feeling confident about\\xA0repaying, and reported spending less time thinking about their loan compared to weekly clients. Monthly clients also\\xA0reported higher business investment and income,\\xA0suggesting that the flexibility encouraged them to invest their loans more\\xA0profitably, which ultimately reduced financial stress.\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","tags":[{"name":"Research","slug":"research"}],"banner":null}}},"staticQueryHashes":["318001574","3787687951","3787687951"]}