Microcredit repayment in a European context: evidence from Portugal

Abstract

The existing empirical literature on microcredit repayment focuses primarily on explaining its deter-minants for developing countries. Using a binary logistic regression model, we examine microcreditrepayment in Portugal, one of the EU countries hardest hit by the economic recession caused by the 2008financial crisis. This article widens the focus by examining the determinants of microcredit repaymentin a previously unstudied context, examining potential differences between expansion and recessionsub-periods and incorporating into the model previously unstudied variables. This study also revealsclear differences between profiles of microcredit borrowers from developing countries and those from aEuropean context.