The Role of Rural Cooperatives in Decreasing Transaction Costs of Obtaining Credits

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

 The main goal of this research is to investigate the role of rural cooperative in deceasing transaction costs of obtaining financial credits. At first, the transaction costs components of obtaining Garzolhasana (Qard Hassan) funds according to different financial institutions (banks, Qard Hassan funds and rural cooperatives) are estimated. Then, total transaction cost of obtaining credits is compared among the banks, Qard Hassan funds and rural cooperatives. The data were collected by a survey applying a multi-stage sampling technique in 2005. The results reveal that the transaction costs of gaining credits are equivalent to 97000 Rials, that is, an additional 10.68 percent annual interest cost. The ratio of transaction costs to total loan is 8 percent for rural cooperatives and is lower than those of banks and Qard Hassan funds. In sum, we can deduce that rural cooperatives can play an important role in decreasing transaction costs of obtaining credit and therefore facilitate accessing to financial markets.

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