Economics Seminar（2014-20）

Topic: Does Team Competition Increase Pro-Social Lending? Evidence from Online Microfinance

Speaker:Yan Chen

Affiliation: University of Michigan

Time:Monday, 23 June. 14:00-15:30pm

Location:Room 217, Guanghua Building 2

Abstract：

We investigate the effects of team competition on pro-social lending activity on Kiva.org, the first microlending website to match lenders with entrepreneurs in developing countries. Using naturally occurring field data, we find that lenders who join teams contribute 1.2 more loans per month than those who do not. Furthermore, teams differ in activity levels. To investigate this heterogeneity, we run a field experiment by posting forum messages. Compared to the control, we find that lenders from inactive teams make significantly more loans when exposed to a goal-setting message and that team coordination increases the magnitude of this effect.

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