Protecting the borrower: An experiment in colonial India

Latika Chaudhary and Anand V. Swamy

Explorations in Economic History, 2017, vol. 65, issue C, 36-54

Abstract: We study the impact of the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act (DARA), a key legislation to protect debtors that was enacted in western colonial India. Using a panel dataset and a difference-in-difference estimation, we find a substantial short-run decline in mortgage-backed credit after the passage of DARA. The contraction in credit did not reduce cropped area or agricultural investments in bullocks and carts, but may have led to less intensive cultivation.

Keywords: India; Credit markets; Regulation; Agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:exehis:v:65:y:2017:i:c:p:36-54

DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2016.07.004

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