Nonborrowers are defined as debt averse if they have never borrowed in the past and prefer avoiding debt in the future, even when offered generous borrowing terms such as zero interest rates, zero collateral, and easy debt-forgiveness. Other nonborrower types have either borrowed in the past or are open to doing so in the future. To better understand nonborrowing behavior, credit preference types (CPTs) were measured among 575 low-income farmers in Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Among 208 current nonborrowers, 156 had never borrowed and only seven were credit rationed. Among never-borrowers, 102 were debt-averse. Thus, more than half of eligible nonborrowers (102 out of 201) were debt averse. This high prevalence challenges the assumption of unmet credit demand among the poor. Disaggregating CPTs reveals heterogeneity among nonborrowers that would remain observationally equivalent otherwise. We report reasons for not borrowing and investigate how observable characteristics influence the likelihood of debt aversion.

中文翻译：

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他们为什么不借？越南农村厌恶债务的农民

如果非借款人过去从未借过钱，并且更愿意在未来避免债务，即使在提供慷慨的借贷条件（例如零利率、零抵押和轻松的债务免除）时，他们也被定义为债务厌恶者。其他类型的非借款人要么过去曾借过钱，要么愿意在未来借钱。为了更好地了解非借贷行为，我们对越南湄公河三角洲 575 名低收入农民的信贷偏好类型 (CPT) 进行了测量。在 208 名当前未借款人中，156 人从未借过钱，只有 7 人进行了信贷配给。在从不借款的人中，有 102 人厌恶债务。因此，超过一半符合条件的非借款人（201 人中有 102 人）厌恶债务。这种高流行率挑战了穷人信贷需求未得到满足的假设。分解 CPT 揭示了非借款人之间的异质性，否则这些异质性在观察上将保持等价。我们报告了不借款的原因，并调查了可观察到的特征如何影响债务厌恶的可能性。