Credit risk in microcredit programs: the role of gender, age, and education variables
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/2446-9513.2025v12id70181Keywords:
credit risk, microfinance, gender, age, educationAbstract
This study aimed to analyze the credit risk of a leading microcredit operation in Brazil, both in terms of the number of clients served and the size of the asset portfolio. The study considered a sample of 10,000 operations contracted in 2022, randomly selected, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to investigate how default is associated with data from groups of people. The final model selected considered six independent variables, all significant, and the results show that demographic variables such as age, education, and gender significantly differentiate the groups of defaulters and compliant borrowers. The number of men and illiterate individuals had positive coefficients, which suggests that an increase in these variables is associated with an increase in the chance of default. The average age had a negative coefficient, suggesting that an increase in this variable is associated with a reduction in the probability of default.
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