In: Economics
Consider the following lending contract between a farmer and a
bank, both of whom are riskñneutral....
Consider the following lending contract between a farmer and a
bank, both of whom are riskñneutral. The farmer needs to borrow
$120 in order to buy seeds for a new crop that she has not grown
before. If she puts in the e§ort needed to learn how to cultivate
the crop properly, her investment will pay o§ for sure and generate
a crop yielding a value of $300. However, if she does not put in
this e§ort the crop yield is uncertain. SpeciÖcally, her yield will
be $300 with probability 0:5, but may end up being 0 with
probability 0:5. The value of the time needed to learn about the
correct cultivation methods is assumed to be 80 and the net cost
per dollar lent for the bank is 30%. The bank must decide what
repayment R it will require as part of the contract. Assume that
the borrower has limited liability and no collateral. (a) For a
given repayment R, what is the expected income of the borrower if
she learns about the crop? What is her expected income if she does
not learn? (b) Use your answer to part (a) to derive the maximum
repayment R that the bank can charge while still inducing the
borrower to learn. Will the bank make the loan ? Suppose now that
two such borrowers form a group and borrow from the bank under a
joint liability clause. Assume also that the borrowers act in
unison so as to maximize their joint expected payo§. (c) For a
given repayment R, what is the expected joint income of the
borrowers if they both learn about the correct method? What is
their expected joint income if they do not learn? (d) Derive the
maximum repayment, R, that the bank can charge while still inducing
borrowers to learn. Will the bank make the loan now?