 Online financing without FinTech: Evidence from online informal loansFilipe Correia, António Martins and Anthony Waikel Journal of Economics and Business, 2022, vol. 121, issue C, No S0148619522000364 Abstract: We present the first comprehensive dataset on an online informal micro-lending community. These informal loans are small, short duration and high-cost. Using our unique micro data, and the Covid-19 pandemic as a laboratory, we uncover different types of information contained on loan terms and on the narratives of market participants. First, loan terms reflect the aggregate economic context of borrowers and lenders. Second, narratives among market participants contain additional and timely information about aggregate and individual borrower circumstances. Third, lenders imperfectly screen on both loan terms and narrative information. These findings highlight the role of data in FinTech. Transparency on micro-loans can improve the efficiency of the credit market, democratizing access to finance for borrowers, while protecting lenders. Keywords: FinTech; Informal credit; Online lending; Pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jebusi:v:121:y:2022:i:c:s0148619522000364 DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconbus.2022.106080 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Economics and Business is currently edited by Emanuele Bajo and Moritz Ritter More articles in Journal of Economics and Business from Elsevier |
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