Date of Submission

5-28-2002

Date of Award

5-28-2003

Institute Name (Publisher)

Indian Statistical Institute

Document Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Subject Name

Quantitative Economics

Department

Economic Research Unit (ERU-Kolkata)

Supervisor

Sarkar, Abhirup (ERU-Kolkata; ISI)

Abstract (Summary of the Work)

One significant aspect of the economic dualism that characterises less developed countries (LDCS) is financial dualism. This is manifested through the co-existence of formal-lenders (FLs) and informal-lenders (ILs), in the credit markets of LDCS, which stands in stark contrast to the integrated, organised and efficiently functioning credit markets of the developed countries. FLs refer to the large institutional lenders, like commercial banks and other government owned banks that are subject to various central bank regulations. The ILs on the other hand are a heterogeneous lot and consist of non-institutional lenders like indigenous bankers, moneylenders, traders, landlords etc., who are outside the gambit of the central bank. In the LDCS not only do the FLs and ILs coexist but also, typically small borrowers both in the agricultural sector and industrial sectors are denied access to formal credit . This segment of borrowers therefore has to rely on informal lenders for meeting most of their credit needs on extremely unfavourable terms resulting in exploitation. The definitions of the FLs and the ILs stated above give us a preliminary idea of the identity of the formal and informal lenders, i.e. who constitute the FLs and the ILs. However to draw a distinction between the two in terms of the above definitions would be somewhat descriptive and general. Studies of the formal and the informal credit markets reveal that FLs and ILs have various structural differences such that either of them have advantages vis-Ã -vis the other in certain aspects and disadvantages in others. This explains their co-existence. Therefore a more analytical way to characterise and distinguish between the two would be to identify and enumerate the specific features in terms of which they can be differentiated. Some of these features are discussed below.

Comments

ProQuest Collection ID: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqm&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:28842994

Control Number

ISILib-TH131

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

DOI

http://dspace.isical.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/10263/2146

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