Subjective cost of credit, access to financial services, and household well-being

Within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), marked socioeconomic disparities and scarce credit underscore the development stakes of linking credit costs, financial access, and household well-being. While credit is often touted as a poverty-reduction tool, its welfare effect hinges on interest-rate levels, whether objectively observed or subjectively perceived. Drawing on the 2018 and 2021 World Bank Harmonized Household Living Standards Surveys and estimating mixed-effects models, we analyze heterogenous impacts across social, economic, and geographic strata在西非经济与货币联盟（West African Economic and Monetary Union，WAEMU）区域内，显著的社会经济差异与信贷供给不足问题，凸显了将信贷成本、金融可得性与家庭福祉三者有机联结的发展重要性。尽管信贷常被视作减贫工具加以宣扬，但其福利效应却取决于利率水平——无论该水平是客观观测所得还是主观感知而来。本研究借助世界银行2018年与2021年的统一家庭生活水平调查（Harmonized Household Living Standards Surveys）数据，并通过拟合混合效应模型，分析了信贷在社会、经济与地理分层群体间的异质性影响。