Complex transactions: Community development financial institutions lending to ethnic entrepreneurs in Los Angeles

R. Varisa Patraporn

Community Development, 2015, vol. 46, issue 5, 479-498

Abstract: Despite federal and state efforts to ensure equal access to credit, ethnic disparities in financial capital remain. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) represent one type of institution working to address this inequality. Based on interviews with the staff of ten Los Angeles, CA (USA) area CDFIs, this article explores the unique way CDFIs lend to ethnic entrepreneurs. The findings highlight the role of CDFIs in providing extensive technical assistance, utilizing flexible lending criteria, and building co-ethnic weak ties. Furthermore, CDFI staff members' specialized knowledge about particular ethnic groups, shared cultural background, and/or language ability allow them to take on greater risk. As the demand for financial capital grows in a tight credit market, it will become increasingly important to understand these community institutions and their potential impact on community development more broadly.

Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/15575330.2015.1079541 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:comdev:v:46:y:2015:i:5:p:479-498

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RCOD20

DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2015.1079541

Access Statistics for this article

Community Development is currently edited by John Green, Rhonda Phillips and Anne Heinze Silvis

More articles in Community Development from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().