小农户获得数字信贷：来自加纳的实验证据
Access to digital credit for smallholder farmers: Experimental evidence from Ghana
Journal of Development Economics · 2026 · [{"name": "Dean Karlan", "affiliation": ["Northwestern University"]}, {"name": "Monica Lambon-Quayefio", "affiliation": ["University of Ghana"]}, {"name": "Utsav Manjeer", "affiliation": []}, {"name": "Christopher Udry", "affiliation": []}]
中文摘要
农业数字金融是一项新兴技术, 有望改善农村金融包容性。在对加纳南部农民数字信贷产品的一项实验评估中, 信贷提高了农场投资, 但对下游结果几乎没有统计显著的平均效应。然而, 物流方面的困难导致对处理分配的依从并不完全: 部分贷款及时发放以支持农业投资, 另一部分则到位较晚。我们谨慎地利用这种计划外的非实验性实施异质性, 得出结论: 聚焦农业的数字信贷平台具有应对农村金融市场长期存在的不完善的潜力, 但发放时机似乎至关重要, 值得进一步研究。
Abstract
Digital finance in agriculture is a nascent technology which could help improve rural financial inclusion. In an experimental evaluation of a digital lending product for farmers in Southern Ghana, credit increases farm investments but has few statistically significant average effects on downstream outcomes. However, logistical challenges generated imperfect compliance with the treatment assignment, with some loans delivered in a timely fashion for agricultural investments and others coming later. We cautiously exploit this unplanned non-experimental implementation heterogeneity and conclude that agriculturally-focused digital credit platforms have potential to tackle persistent rural financial market imperfections, but the timing seems critical and deserves further study.