Cultural Proximity and Loan Outcomes
利用印度银行官员与借款人的宗教和种姓配对数据，研究发现文化亲近（共同信仰、种族）能增加信贷量、降低违约率，并减少抵押要求，其作用机制是缓解信息摩擦。
We present evidence that cultural proximity (shared codes, beliefs, ethnicity) between lenders and borrowers increases the quantity of credit and reduces default. We identify in-group lending using dyadic data on religion and caste for officers and borrowers from an Indian bank, and a rotation policy that induces exogenous matching between them. Having an in-group officer increases credit access and loan size dispersion, reduces collateral requirements, and induces better repayment even after the in-group officer leaves. We consider a range of explanations and suggest that the findings are most easily explained by cultural proximity serving to mitigate information frictions in lending.