Informality and access to finance during socialism and transition – the case of the rotating savings and credit schemes

Although access to finance has grown rapidly all over the world, largely based on the expansion of the banking sector, informal finance is still common. Rotating savings and credit schemes have been diffused in many countries across the world, including socialist countries, generally stimulated by a lack of access to loans. These schemes are informal (with no formal binding obligations or written rules) and voluntary, and their functioning...