Working Paper: NBER ID: w27035
Authors: Shilpa Aggarwal; Valentina Brailovskaya; Jonathan Robinson
Abstract: We test whether the provision of multiple labeled savings accounts affects savings and downstream outcomes in an experiment with 761 microentrepreneurs in urban Malawi. Treatment respondents received one or multiple savings accounts, in the form of lockboxes or mobile money. We find that while providing additional boxes increased savings by 40%, technical issues marred the efficacy of a second mobile money account. Both types of accounts had impacts on downstream outcomes, including farming decisions and credit extended to customers. We do not detect differential downstream effects by the number of accounts.
Keywords: savings; mobile money; lockboxes; liquidity; labeling; mental accounting; goal setting; microenterprises
JEL Codes: D14; L26; O12; O16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| lockboxes (Y60) | total savings (D14) |
| mobile money accounts (E40) | total savings (D14) |
| savings accounts (D14) | time spent on farming (Q12) |
| savings accounts (D14) | credit extended to customers (G21) |