This study examines whether caste affiliation influences the ability to obtain credit from institutional sources. We employ Fourth All India Census of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises 2006–2007 data to empirically verify this relationship. We conduct an econometric analysis of loan outcomes by the caste affiliation of the firm owner and observe that firms owned by socially disadvantaged groups have a lower probability of obtaining formal credit even after controlling for differences in creditworthiness and other factors. Our results also show that discrimination by formal credit institutions extends to the amount of the loan sanctioned. These results thus suggest that affirmative action programs in India have not had much impact on credit market access for socially marginalized entrepreneurs, and policymakers should address this concern by introducing special programs and regulatory incentives to encourage banks and others to increase their lending toward these disadvantaged groups.

中文翻译：

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企业所有者的等级制度在小企业获得融资方面是否发挥作用？来自印度的证据

这项研究检查了种姓隶属关系是否会影响从机构来源获得信贷的能力。我们采用了2006-2007年第四次全印度微型，中小型企业人口普查数据以经验验证这种关系。我们对企业所有者的种姓隶属关系进行了贷款结果的计量经济学分析，并观察到即使控制了信誉度和其他因素的差异，社会弱势群体拥有的企业获得正式信贷的可能性也较低。我们的结果还表明，正规信贷机构的歧视扩大到制裁贷款的数额。因此，这些结果表明，印度的平权行动计划对社会边缘化企业家的信贷市场准入没有太大影响，政策制定者应通过引入特殊计划和监管激励措施来鼓励银行和其他机构增加对这些弱势群体的贷款，以解决这一问题。 。