Precautionary Saving, Credit Constraints, and Irreversible Investment: Theory and Evidence From Serniarid India
利用印度灌溉井数据估计不可逆投资的结构模型，发现贫困农户因投资不可分割而无法自筹资金进行盈利投资，信贷可得性可大幅提升灌溉投资，而利率补贴效果甚微。
This article investigates the extent to which poor households are discouraged from making a non-divisible but profitable investment. Using data on irrigation wells in India, we estimate the parameters of a structural model of irreversible investment. Results show that poor farmers fail to undertake a profitable investment that they could, in principle, self-finance because the nondivisibility of the investment puts it out of their reach. Irreversibility constitutes an additional disincentive to invest. Simulations show that the availability of credit can dramatically increase investment in irrigation and that interest-rate subsidization has little impact.