Are Microloans Too Small?

Last registered on July 18, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Are Microloans Too Small?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004617
Initial registration date
August 23, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 30, 2019, 10:10 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
July 18, 2022, 9:58 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-05-01
End date
2019-12-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Credit constraints have been a classic explanation for why businesses in the developing world have struggled to grow, but relieving those constraints through microloans has had modest impacts on business outcomes. It may be that microloans are just too small to make an economically significant impact on business outcomes. We test this hypothesis using an experiment in Egypt where treatment firms receive a loan 4 times the size of their previous loan.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bryan, Gharad, Dean Karlan and Adam Osman. 2022. "Are Microloans Too Small?." AEA RCT Registry. July 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4617-1.3
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We provide larger loans to existing microcredit clients.
Intervention Start Date
2016-05-01
Intervention End Date
2017-07-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Profits, Revenues, Wagebill, Household consumption, etc
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Exisiting clients interested in a larger loan apply for one. Half of them are randomized into treatment and are given a loan 4x the size of their previous loan, and half are in control give 2x the size of their previous loan.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Randomized at the individual level, stratified by loan officer
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1004 Borrowers
Sample size: planned number of observations
1004
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
501 treatment and 503 in control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Innovations for Poverty Action
IRB Approval Date
2016-04-01
IRB Approval Number
IRB#0004745
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
July 31, 2017, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
August 04, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
1004 borrowers
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1936 borrowers follow up surveys
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
501 treatment borrowers, 503 control borrowers
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

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Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials