QUANTITY, PRICE AND RISK RATIONING IN RURAL CREDIT MARKETS – AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF KYRGYZ RURAL CREDIT DEMAND AND UPTAKE
Low access to rural credit is hampering agricultural and rural development in developing and transition economies. Credit rationing or quantity rationing, defined as insufficient credit volumes at adequate interest rates and collateral requirements, is commonly been hold responsible. This paper is researching into the contribution of demand-side factors like internal price rationing and risk rationing, in addition to supply-side factors along the case example of Kyrgyztan. Towards this aim, we explore the determinants of credit application and take-up along the nationally representative Life in Kyrgyzstan (LIK) dataset of 3000 rural households in Kyrgyzstan. The results of hierarchical analysis indicate that are restrained by demand-side factor that reflect farmers’ perceived risk of credit default and loss of collateral. Supply-side factors, such as real credit constraints and collateral requests, meanwhile have a stronger influence on credit applications and take-up rates. These findings support recent works that highlight the role of risk rationing for agricultural investment, suggesting a stronger focus of development policy on improving risk- sharing mechanisms for farmers.