Kristina Czura has been invited to speak for the Development Economics seminar at the International Institute of Social Studies.
- Speaker
- Date
- Thursday 7 Jun 2018, 13:15 - 14:00
- Type
- Seminar
- Room
- 4.01
- Location
- International Institute of Social Studies
Joint-liability groups and rigid repayment schedules have long been considered essential for guaranteeing high repayment rates in microcredit lending, since they offer mutual insurance and keep repayment discipline high.
Yet both features have been criticized lately: rigid repayment schedules interfere with fluctuating incomes, and joint liability induces excessive peer pressure.
We study whether the interaction of both flexible repayment features and joint-liability allows reaping the benefits of joint liability and flexibility – high repayment and shock coping capacity – while keeping their downsides – low repayment morale and excessive peer pressure – at bay.
Using data from lab-in-the-field experiments with microcredit borrowers in the Philippines, we find that interacting joint liability with repayment flexibility enhances the responsible use of flexibility and reduces anti-social punishment.
About the speaker
Kristina Czura is an applied micro economist interested in behavioural economic foundations of development and financial services for the poor.
In her research she uses both applied microeconometric and experimental economics methods, such as randomized controlled trials, natural experiments, and lab-in-the-field experiments. For primary data collection, she has conducted field work in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Philippines) and West Africa (Senegal).
After receiving her PhD at the Goethe University Frankfurt in August 2012, Kristina held postdoctoral research positions at the development research center CERDI at the University of Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy, and she visited the London School of Economics in spring 2016.
Currently, she holds a position as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU Munich).
