Economic Exclusion as a Predictor of Cascade Exclusion: a Case Study of Loan companies in Poland

This paper discusses the results of two empirical research projects on consumer micro-loans in Poland recently conducted at the Institute of Applied Social Sciences (University of Warsaw) and the Institute of Justice. The text summarizes the main findings of both studies and focuses on their main common thread: the various dimensions of social exclusion among average consumers who enter the loan market. The text argues that individuals who take consumer loans usually experience financial exclusion, which in turn prevents them from obtaining the cheaper credit available from banks. At the same time, by entering the loan market individuals de facto exclude themselves from effective legal protection (from courts and administrative bodies), which should be provided as an element of the rule of law in a democratic state. Building on these premises, the concept of “cascade exclusion” is proposed as an analytical framework for theses on interrelated dimensions of exclusion.