Collaborative Research: Social Networks and Microfinance

国家科学基金会的这一奖项资助了分析网络如何影响经济行为的新研究。研究人员收集了一个独特的数据集，其中包括南印度75个村庄个人的详细网络和人口数据。其中43个村庄参与了小额贷款项目，数据包括所有村庄在引入小额贷款之前和之后的社交网络信息。研究小组使用这些数据来检验假设，即当参与者不需要依赖非正式的社会借贷关系时，因为有正式的小额贷款，社会网络是否会发生变化，以及如何发生变化。该小组还将进行另外三项研究。他们将在网络中追踪信息和建议的传播，他们将研究社会网络如何影响一个旨在利用同伴影响鼓励储蓄的项目的成功，他们还想研究同伴网络在决定拖欠正式贷款方面的作用。更广泛的影响包括创建一个独特的数据集，这对社会科学领域对如何建模和分析社会网络感兴趣的研究人员很有用。研究生和本科生都参与了这个项目。最后，小额信贷被称赞为解决发展中国家穷人面临的问题的新方法。然而，最近的证据清楚地表明，社交网络在小额贷款项目的成败中起着关键作用。了解这一角色是设计新的小额贷款政策和产品的关键。

This NSF award funds new research analyzing how networks affect economic behavior. The researchers collect a unique dataset that includes detailed network and demographic data on individuals in 75 villages in South India. Forty-three of these villages participated in a microlending project, and the data includes information on the social networks in all of the villages before and after the introduction of microlending. The research team uses the data to test hypotheses about whether and how a social network changes when the participants do not need to rely on informal social borrowing/lending relationships because formal microloans are available. The team will also conduct three other studies. They will trace the information and diffusion of advice across the network, they will study how the social network affects the success of a program designed to use peer influence to encourage saving, and they want to study the role of peer networks in decisions to default on formal loans. Broader impacts include the creation of a unique data set that is useful for researchers across the social sciences who are interested in how to model and analyze social networks. Graduate students and undergraduates are involved in the project. Finally, microfinance has been lauded as a new solution to problems facing poor people in developing countries. However, recent evidence makes it clear that social networks play a key role in the success or failure of microlending programs. Understanding this role is key for the design of new microlending policies and products.