Publication Date
1991
Recommended Citation
Levy, Amnon and Romm, Tsilia, The consequences of mutually secured debts: the case of Israeli Moshavim, Department of Economics, University of Wollongong, Working Paper 91-5, 1991, 21.
https://ro.uow.edu.au/commwkpapers/306
Abstract
This paper explores the long run consequences of the farm’s own debt and the moshav’s average debt on the farm household investment in productive capital stock, borrowing and consumption. In particular, the analysis focuses on the financial externalities that may arise from the moshav’s organisational principle of mutual responsibility for members’ debts. These externalities can have a considerable adverse effect on the capital stock and borrowing of the more efficient farms, and hence on their productive activity. These effects are studied within the framework of an optimal control model and summarised by a number of optimality conditions. The effects of the individual member’s position and the moshav’s financial position on farm investment and borrowing are estimated and tested in two crosssection regression analyses, which also take into account variations in characteristics among family farms.