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Surviving Debt and Survival Debt in Times of Lockdown

Guérin, Isabelle; Michiels, Sébastien; Natal, A.; Nordman, Christophe Jalil; Venkatasubramanian, Govindan (2022), Surviving Debt and Survival Debt in Times of Lockdown, Economic and Political Weekly, 57, 1, p. 41-49

Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publié
Date
2022
Journal name
Economic and Political Weekly
Volume
57
Number
1
Publisher
Economic and Political Weekly
Pages
41-49
Metadata
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Author(s)
Guérin, Isabelle cc
Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme [DIAL]
Michiels, Sébastien
Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique [CREST]
Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme [DIAL]
Natal, A.
Bordeaux Sciences Economiques [BSE]
Nordman, Christophe Jalil
Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme [DIAL]
Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine [LEDa]
Venkatasubramanian, Govindan
Abstract (EN)
What are the consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown on household debt? Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data collected in rural Tamil Nadu, this paper highlights the massive risks of financial fragility. Quantitative data show a very high level of pre-Covid-19 debt, and the lockdown was accompanied by a large-scale suspension of repayments. At the same time, there was a halt to unsecured debt and an erosion of the trust that cements most transactions. Last, but not the least, the emergence of new forms of secured debt that seriously threaten household assets was observed.
Subjects / Keywords
Covid-19 lockdown; household debt; rural; Tamil Nadu
JEL
R51 - Finance in Urban and Rural Economies
R23 - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
O12 - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
O18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure