Economics of savings-based finance: an interest-free model of rotating savings and credit association in Turkey

Purpose The emerging markets have been witnessing a remarkable revival of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) serving as alternative informal financing and investment platforms, also known as savings-based finance (SBF) in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to present the SBF model mathematically, analyse the performance of the SBF sector and propose a new Sharīʿah-compliant SBF model for the acquisition of durables. Design/methodology/approach The paper thoroughly reviews the concept and practice of ROSCA across the globe, mathematically models and empirically analyses the performance of Turkish SBF companies using a unique data set. Findings The study formulates a two-person SBF model and proposes a Mudarabah-Wakalah hybrid model with a new investment feature. It is found that the concept of ROSCA is being operationalized in 105 countries across the globe under different names with slight business model modifications. The research also reveals that the demand for financing of durables in Turkey significantly increased in recent years with the demand for housing is twice greater compared to vehicles. Most importantly, a strong significant inter- and intra-comovement is observed between these durables implying that the success of the sector in one segment has attracted the customers to other SBF products. It shows that the SBF institutions can effectively serve as the alternative financing houses for pooling savings and financing the durables, and they have strong potential to capture a larger financial market share in Turkey and even globally. Originality/value The study constructs mathematical models and proposes a new investment wing to an existing SBF wealth fund.

ROSCA: An alternative informal credit source for wholesale and retail traders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

This paper attempts to explore the major informal source of fundraising for the wholesale and retail traders in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Furthermore it examine a cost benefit analysis of joining ROSCA (Rotating Saving and Credit Association) from the society point of view. Primary data is collected by filling closed ended personally administered questionnaires from 250 respondents, garnered through the snowball method and selected through purposive sampling. Descriptive statistics, percentage method, is used for data analysis. An empirical example is also used to show cost benefit analysis of the participants of the ROSCA. The study find that 68 percent of respondents in the study area asserted that ROSCA is the only source of fundraising for them. Cost benefit analysis shows that the first 8 participants, out of a total of 12 participants, are better off in joining ROSCA and the last 4 participants are worse off. The study concluded that in the milieu where formal markets reluctant to cater to the needs of the small scale businesses, ROSCA plays an important role in fundraising for wholesale and retailers in the target area; and that society as a whole better off in joining ROSCA; rather than without it.

Double-Layer Network Model of Bank-Enterprise Counterparty Credit Risk Contagion

Banks and enterprises constitute a multilayered, multiattribute, multicriteria credit-related super network due to financial transaction behaviors, such as credit, wealth management, savings, and derivatives. Such a network has become an important channel for credit risk cross-contagion. This study constructs a two-layer network model of credit risk contagion between the bank and corporate counterparties from the perspective that banks do not withdraw loans from enterprises by considering the influence of corporate credit defaults on their counterparties under the credit linkage. This study analyzes the mechanism of influencing the evolution of bank-enterprise counterparty credit risk contagion in the two-tier network through theoretical analysis, including the following: the enterprises’ coping ability, risk preference, influence, level of interenterprise credit risk contagion and its network heterogeneity in the interenterprise credit association network, the risk prevention and control ability, business correlation degree, interbank credit risk contagion and its network heterogeneity in the interbank credit association network, the level of credit risk contagion between bank-enterprise counterparty credit association networks, and other factors in the case that banks do not withdraw loans from enterprises. In addition, this study performs a calculation experiment to analyze the characteristics of the evolution of counterparty credit risk contagion of bank and corporate counterparties under the double-layer network. The following four major conclusions can be drawn from the results. First, in the interenterprise credit-related network, the threshold of credit risk contagion rate is positively correlated with the marginal increase in risk perception and risk leveling ability of the enterprise. By contrast, such threshold is negatively correlated with the marginal decrease in the initial economic impact, leverage level, and influence of the enterprise. Moreover, the scale of corporate counterparty credit risk contagion is negatively correlated with the enterprise’s risk perception level and risk spillover ability but positively correlated with the enterprise’s initial economic shock level, the enterprise’s leverage level, and influence. Second, in the interbank credit association network, the threshold of the rate of credit risk contagion is negatively correlated with the marginal decrease in the degree of interbank business association but positively correlated with the marginal increase in the bank’s risk resistance ability and risk information processing ability. Furthermore, the scale of credit risk contagion of bank counterparties is positively correlated with the degree of interbank business association but negatively correlated with the bank’s ability to resist risks and process risk information. Third, if the heterogeneity of the credit-related network of bank-enterprise counterparties is high, then the rate threshold of credit risk contagion is high and the scale of credit risk diffusion is low. Moreover, the scale of credit risk contagion of bank counterparties is positively correlated with the marginal decrease in the degree of corporate and bank counterparties. Finally, the scale of bank counterparty credit risk contagion is a monotonically increasing convex function of the credit risk contagion rate in the enterprise credit association network and among the bank-enterprise networks.

Determinants of access to credit by cocoa farmers in osun state, nigeria

This study investigated the determinants of access to credit among cocoa farmers in Osun state, Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of cocoa farmers in the study area, examined the factors affecting access to credit by cocoa farmers in the study area; and identified the constraints faced by cocoa farmers in credit acquisition. The study was conducted in Osun state, south-western Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used for selecting respondents for this study. A total number of 180 farmers were selected for the study. Data were analyzed using Descriptive statistics and logit Regression. The results for the entire respondents showed average values of 46 years for age, 25 years for year of experience, 8 persons for household size, and about 88% of the respondents have formal education. Farm size (p<0.05), income (p<0.05) and years of schooling (p<0.05) show significant and positive effects on access to credit. On the other hand, gender (p<0.05), distance to credit source (p<0.1) and interest rate (p<0.01) are significant but have negative effects on access to credit by cocoa farmers in the study area. Majority (85.6%) of the cocoa farmers acknowledged lack of collateral security as a constraint in credit acquisition, while about 71.1 % acknowledged that high interest rate was a factor hindering credit acquisition. Other factors are acknowledged in the following order: Bureaucratic procedures 60.6%, lack of information about available credit sources 45%, mode of repayment 40%, no credit association 31.1% and non- membership of farmers’-based organization had 23.3%. Following the findings of the study, government, non-governmental agencies and financial institutions should provide cocoa farmers with adequate access to credit facilities and soft loans with low interest and without collateral security. In addition, cocoa farmers should be educated on the acquisition of credit. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 9(2): 57-61, December 2019