The Sacrifices of Micro-Borrowers in Ghana – A Customer-Protection Perspective on Measuring Over-Indebtedness
从客户保护视角定义过度负债，基于借款人牺牲程度衡量，发现30%借款人过度负债，且与拖欠和债务收入比强相关，但风险管理指标预测能力有限。
This article measures the over-indebtedness of micro-borrowers. It defines over-indebtedness from a customer-protection perspective, based on the borrowers' sacrifices. We analyse the sacrifices borrowers experience and find that 30 per cent of borrowers are over-indebted. We then test risk management indicators of debt problems as predictors of over-indebtedness. Over-indebtedness is strongly related to delinquency and the debt-to-income ratio but not to debt amounts or to multiple borrowing. Although our model correctly predicts 72.6 per cent of cases, even the best indicators identify only a few over-indebted borrowers. Risk management is not enough to protect customers against over-indebtedness but the industry needs to measure customer experiences directly.