Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment

Robin Burgess and Rohini Pande

STICERD - Development Economics Papers - From 2008 this series has been superseded by Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers from Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE

Abstract: Lack of access to finance is often cited as a key reason why poor people remain poor. This paper uses data on the Indian rural branch expansion program to provide empirial evidence on this issue. Between 1977 and 1990, the Indian Central Bank mandated that a commercial bank can open a branch in a location with one or more bank branches only if it opens four in locations with no bank branches. We show that between 1977 and 1990 this rule caused banks to open relatively more rural branches in Indian states with lower initial financial development. The reverse is true outside this period. We exploit this fact to identify the impact of opening a rural bank on poverty and output. Our estimates suggest that the Indian rural branch expansion program significantly lowered rural poverty, and increased non-agricultural output.

Keywords: Finance and development; rural banking; bank licensing; credit constraints; structural change; diversification; redistribution; povery; growth. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mfd
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (47)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment (2005)
Working Paper: Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment (2004)
Working Paper: Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment (2004)
Working Paper: Do rural banks matter? Evidence from the Indian social banking experiment (2003)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cep:stidep:40

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