Does Microfinance Cause or Reduce Suicides? Policy Recommendations for Reducing Borrower Stress

At a time when suicides by microfinance borrowers in Andhra Pradesh are extensively discussed, this paper makes an initial tentative exploration into the impact of microfinance on suicides. Does MF reduce or increase suicides? Data limitations imply methodological limitations and provisional conclusions. The literature review, starting with Emile Durkheim, of research on suicides brings out the importance of psychological factors, divorce, and unemployment. We investigate time series data on suicides in India and find a just significantly positive correlation with male suicide rates and slightly negative correlations (not significant) with female suicide rates – but no relation between micr…