Prompting Microfinance Borrowers to Save
A Field Experiment from Guatemala
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4360170 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jesse Atkinson, Alain De Janvry, Craig Mcintosh (0000-0002-8038-2648, University of California San Diego), Elisabeth Sadoulet (University of California, Berkeley) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 21-64 |
| Publication date | 2013-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Economic Development and Cultural Change (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0079 • E-ISSN: 1539-2988 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/671713 |
| OpenAlex | W2026358270 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 24 |
Can microfinance borrowers use the discipline of regular loan repayments in order to accumulate savings if prompted to do so? In an experiment, we offered commercial savings products to the microfinance borrowers of Guatemala’s largest public-sector bank. We find that giving these borrowers the opportunity to develop a savings plan and be reminded of saving at the time of loan repayment caused no increase in the opening of savings accounts but led to balances among savers that were two and a half times those in the control. A second treatment arm that proposed a default savings contribution of 10% of the loan payment caused the fraction of clients using linked savings accounts to double, as well as elevated deposits among savers, leading to final savings balances that were more than five times the control. The savings treatments also generate faster pay down of debt and weakly better overall repayment performance, suggesting that simultaneous saving and borrowing can be complementary activities. A theoretical model shows that the simultaneous provision of debt and self-commitment savings products can also help a larger fraction of the population to eventually escape a debt-financed equilibrium
Business · Control (management) · Debt · Economic growth · Economics · Financial system · Loan · Microfinance · Monetary economics · Order (exchange) · Payment · Population · Savings account · Finance · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion
Just a bit of cushion
Savings by and for the Poor
Unveiling the potential of community financing for entrepreneurs
Fostering savings by commitment
Unlocking the benefits of credit through saving
Why Do Poor People Co-Hold Debt and Liquid Savings
Microfinance Revolution
Financial Education and Savings Behavior
Facilitating Savings for Agriculture
Testing for Altruism and Social Pressure in Charitable Giving
The Economics of Roscas and Intrahousehold Resource Allocation
Savings Constraints and Microenterprise Development
Choice and Procrastination
Myopic Loss Aversion and the Equity Premium Puzzle
Psychology and Economics
Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting
The Power of Suggestion
Choice under Conflict
Status quo bias in decision making
Prospect Theory
Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors
Bills on the Sidewalk
Pension Plan Characteristics and Framing Effects in Employee Savings Behavior
Roscas as financial agreements to cope with self-control problems
Avoiding the Ask
Save More TomorrowTM
Pretending to Be Poor
Giving Credit Where It Is Due
The Effect of Time Pressure on Consumer Choice Deferral
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2025 (12) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |