Health Status, Financial Consciousness and Rural Households’ Credit Constraints

Abstract

Since credit is assumed as a critical vehicle for poverty alleviation, it is necessary to examine what are the key factors affected rural households' credit constraints. This paper investigates the determinants affecting the rural households' credit constraints in Jiangxi province of the southern China. Data used in this paper was investigated from a random survey of 743 rural households, conducted in the summer holiday in 2013. The statistical analysis of the sample indicates that 54.9% of the respondents were credit constrained. The results of the Probit model imply that the rural households' health status has a positive and significant impact on their credit constraints while financial consciousness negatively and significantly affect their credit constraints. These findings indicate that improving the income of farmers requires the improvement of credit accessibility of the rural households.