Using Bank Savings Product Design for Empowering Women and Agricultural Development

Jose Galdo

No 14523, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This study examines whether the random allocation of single and joint saving accounts to cash crop farmers in rural Ethiopia is associated with changes in decision-making authority and control over resources that ultimately lead to changes in labor effort, schooling allocations, income, consumption, agricultural investments, and crop output. Women and children work more when joint deposit accounts are available. Likewise, meaningful effects on school participation are reported for girls. Consistent with posited channels of intrahousehold bargaining models, women from households assigned to the joint saving treatment group show significant gains in autonomy and control of savings resources, and financial empowerment. While we find substantial gains in subjective wellbeing for single and joint account experimental groups, no meaningful impacts on agricultural crop output, income, and consumption are found. However, a systematic decumulation of livestock assets is observed across households assigned to the joint account treatment group.

Keywords: labor; agriculture markets; bank savings; schooling; women empowerment; RCT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D14 G21 I21 J43 O12 R20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 64 pages
Date: 2021-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev, nep-exp, nep-lma and nep-mfd
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Published - updated version published online in: World Bank Economic Review , 29 May 2024

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