Credit for What? Informal Credit as a Coping Strategy of Market Women in Northern Ghana
研究了加纳北部市场女性如何利用非正规信贷作为应对风险的策略，发现维持信贷网络耗时且成本高，长期阻碍脱贫。
Abstract This paper explores the use of informal credit as a strategy for managing risks by market women in northern Ghana. A broad concept of the costs of risk management strategies is introduced and encompasses both a time and monetary dimension. Based on qualitative data, the analysis reveals that market women invest a considerable amount of time in maintaining complex networks of informal credit providers to ensure their access to credit once a shock occurs. Informal credit involves high transaction costs and prevents market women from growing out of poverty in the long term.