The Effect of Social Capital on Households’ Access to Microcredit in Cameroon in 2001 and 2007
Date
2020-11-07
Authors
Metseyem, Clarisse
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research consortium
Abstract
The aim of this study is to identify the determinants of households’ access
to microcredit in Cameroon; in particular the effect of social capital on their
access to microcredit in 2001 and 2007. The study is based on data collected
during the Cameroon household surveys (ECAM II and III) conducted by
the National Institute of Statistics (Institut National de la Statistique,
INS) in 2001 and 2007. The Multiple Component Analysis (MCA) was used
to construct the social capital index while the probit model was used for
modelling. The Heckman two-step procedure was used to deal with the
selection bias. The study found that social capital increased the probability
of households having access to microcredit. An increase in this probability
was observed for the years under study (4.2% for 2001 and 9.52% for 2007).
It rose as a function of the level of household income (from the first to the
fifth expenditure quintile). These findings suggest that there is a need for
encouraging stakeholders (both private individuals and enterprises) to group
together into networks.
Description
Keywords
Social capital , Microfinance; , Access to microcredit; , Income distribution , ; Households