Banking the Unbanked: Evidence from Three Countries - Working Paper 440

Pascaline Dupas
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Pascaline Dupas, Jonathan Robinson, Diego Javier Ubfal and Dean Karlan

No 440, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: We experimentally test the impact of expanding access to basic bank accounts in Uganda, Malawi, and Chile. Over two years, 17 percent, 10 percent, and 3 percent of treatment individuals made five or more deposits, respectively. Average monthly deposits for them were at the 79th, 91st, and 96th percentiles of baseline savings. Survey data show no clearly discernible intention-to-treat effects on savings or any downstream outcomes. This suggests that policies merely focused on expanding access to basic accounts are unlikely to improve welfare noticeably since impacts, even if present, are likely small and diverse.

Keywords: financial access, savings, banking, microfinance, field experiment, multi-country, Uganda, Malawi; Chile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D14 G21 O12 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 54 pages
Date: 2016-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mfd
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cgd:wpaper:440

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