Evaluation of Impacts of Access to Credit and Loan Size for Microcredit Clients in South Africa

NCT00700349 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IPA-2004-SA
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 3,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 3

Brief Summary

This study involves randomization of individuals who were initially rejected from a micro-lending organization in South Africa. Subjects were placed into two arms: (1) not receiving a loan; (2) being reconsidered for a "second look." Of those in the second arm, 53% were then selected by the organization's loan officers to receive a standard loan for first-time borrowers. Mental health and financial data were collected at one timepoint: approximately 6-12 months after the subjects first applied for the loan.

Conditions

Mental Health; Depression; Stress

Keywords

depression; stress; microcredit; poverty; South Africa

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), a 20-item questionnaire (0 = no risk, 60 = highest risk)

  At follow-up (6-12 months after subject enrollment)

• Perceived stress, measured using the Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), a 10-item questionnaire (0 = no stress, 40 = high stress)

  At follow-up (6-12 months after subject enrollment)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Household income, measured by a variety of questions that asked about all sources of income obtained by all members of the applicant's household.

  At follow-up (6-12 months after subject enrollment)

Study Arms (2)

1

NO INTERVENTION

Individuals who were rejected from receiving a loan from a micro-lending organization were randomized to continue receiving no loan.

2

EXPERIMENTAL

Individuals who were rejected from receiving a loan from a micro-lending organization were randomized to receive a "second look," to be reconsidered for a loan by loan officers.

Other: Small loan

Interventions

Small loan OTHER

Applicants in the treatment group were offered an interest rate, loan size, and maturity per the lender's standard underwriting criteria, involving a 4-month maturity at 11.75% per month, charged on the original balance (200% annual percentage rate).

2

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Subjects were recruited from those who had been rejected from a lending organization for non-fraudulent or non-overindebtness reasons.

You may not qualify if:

• None.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Innovations for Poverty Action: lead
• Broadening Access and Strengthening Input Market Systems/USAID: collaborator
• U.S. National Science Foundation: collaborator
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: collaborator
• Princeton University: collaborator
• Social Science Research Council Program in Applied Economics: collaborator
• Federal Reserve Bank of New York: collaborator

Study Sites (3)

Innovations for Poverty Action

Cape Town, South Africa

Location

Innovations for Poverty Action

Durban, South Africa

Location

Innovations for Poverty Action

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being; Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms

Study Officials

• Dean Karlan, PhD

  Innovations for Poverty Action

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Jonathan Zinman, PhD

  Dartmouth University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Lia Fernald, PhD

  University of California, Berkeley

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 16, 2008
• First Posted: June 18, 2008
• Study Start: September 1, 2004
• Primary Completion: November 1, 2005
• Study Completion: November 1, 2005
• Last Updated: June 18, 2008

Record last verified: 2008-06

Locations

ZA (3)