Interest rates, collateral and (de-)interlinkage: a micro-study of rural credit in West Bengal

This study, based on a primary field survey in rural West Bengal, analyses the terms and conditions of the differentiated structure of rural credit with the advent of capitalist agriculture within the interventionist state. The sample households are classified according to the economic classes of Patnaik as well as the standard acreage criterion. The possibility of interlinkage between credit and all other structures is remote. The average rate of interest is inversely related to ascending class status. There is a systematic association between rate of interest and the value of collateral on the one hand, and marketability of collateral and interest rates on the other.