Data and code for: Indirect Effects of Access to Finance

We created experimental variation across markets in China in the share of firms having access
to a new loan product. Access to finance had a large positive direct effect on the performance
of treated firms, but a similar-sized negative indirect effect on that of firms with treated competitors, leading to non-detectable gains in producer surplus. Access to finance had a positive
direct effect on business quality and consumer satisfaction, and a negative effect on price, which
were not offset by indirect effects, implying net gains in consumer surplus. We document other
indirect effects and combine effects in a welfare evaluation.