Becky Yang Hsu (Ph.D., Princeton University) is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University, Washington DC. Her research interests include religion, organizations, Chinese society, and global development. Her research has received numerous awards from the Eastern Sociological Society and the American Sociological Association. She is currently doing new research on how people define happiness in China, which has been featured in The Washington Post.

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; 1. Group lending, social ties, and a pragmatist theory of microfinance; 2. Microfinance in China: history, influences, and program efforts; 3. Credit and favor: the effect of social influence on repayment and default; 4. Repaying a friend: making the self and the impossible default; 5. The social cost of sanctions: why borrowers avoided making others lose face; 6. Personhood, microfinance, and a new proposition for the sociology of development; Appendix: fieldwork methodology; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Becky Yang Hsu (Ph.D., Princeton University) is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University, Washington DC. Her research interests include religion, organizations, Chinese society, and global development. Her research has received numerous awards from the Eastern Sociological Society and the American Sociological Association. She is currently doing new research on how people define happiness in China, which has been featured in The Washington Post.

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; 1. Group lending, social ties, and a pragmatist theory of microfinance; 2. Microfinance in China: history, influences, and program efforts; 3. Credit and favor: the effect of social influence on repayment and default; 4. Repaying a friend: making the self and the impossible default; 5. The social cost of sanctions: why borrowers avoided making others lose face; 6. Personhood, microfinance, and a new proposition for the sociology of development; Appendix: fieldwork methodology; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Becky Yang Hsu (Ph.D., Princeton University) is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University, Washington DC. Her research interests include religion, organizations, Chinese society, and global development. Her research has received numerous awards from the Eastern Sociological Society and the American Sociological Association. She is currently doing new research on how people define happiness in China, which has been featured in The Washington Post.

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; 1. Group lending, social ties, and a pragmatist theory of microfinance; 2. Microfinance in China: history, influences, and program efforts; 3. Credit and favor: the effect of social influence on repayment and default; 4. Repaying a friend: making the self and the impossible default; 5. The social cost of sanctions: why borrowers avoided making others lose face; 6. Personhood, microfinance, and a new proposition for the sociology of development; Appendix: fieldwork methodology; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.