Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of loans provided by Benin's largest microlender.

Design/methodology/approach

A pipeline design and matching techniques contribute for identifying the causal effect. The loan treatment considered is loan experience. It includes program entry timing, take-up frequency and the amount obtained over six years. The study uses a cluster analysis to create comparison groups.

Findings

Experience with agricultural loans has a statistically significantly positive effect on recipients' farm income, food security and women's empowerment. Though unusual, these positive results can be credited to the very low rate of loan repurposing and mostly to the lender's rigorous loan implementation strategy.

Practical implications

The study results validate the hypothesis underlying development strategies that target women regarding loan programs. The study provides a simple yet valuable lesson for future credit impact evaluations: the context of the loan program as well as the evaluation indicators is essential.

Social implications

This study’s findings suggest that microcredit, when offered judiciously and with support, can improve farmers' conditions.

Originality/value

Given the relatively long period studied, the analysis has been innovative in defining loan treatment and creating reliable treatment groups. Also to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind in Benin.

中文翻译：

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农业贷款的经验是否改善了农民的福祉？来自贝宁的证据

目的

本研究的目的是检验贝宁最大的小额贷款机构提供的贷款的效果。

设计/方法/方法

管道设计和匹配技术有助于识别因果关系。考虑的贷款处理是贷款经验。它包括计划进入时间、接受频率和六年内获得的金额。该研究使用聚类分析来创建比较组。

发现

农业贷款的经验对接受者的农业收入、粮食安全和妇女赋权具有统计上显着的积极影响。虽然不寻常，但这些积极的结果可以归功于非常低的贷款再利用率，主要归功于贷方严格的贷款实施策略。

实际影响

研究结果验证了针对女性的贷款计划发展战略的假设。该研究为未来的信用影响评估提供了一个简单而有价值的教训：贷款计划的背景以及评估指标至关重要。

社会影响

这项研究的结果表明，如果提供明智的小额信贷并得到支持，可以改善农民的状况。

原创性/价值

鉴于研究的时间相对较长，该分析在定义贷款处理和创建可靠的处理组方面具有创新性。此外，据作者所知，这项研究在贝宁尚属首次。