Savings by and for the Poor: A Research Review and Agenda-Working Paper 346

Dean Karlan ()
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman

No 346, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: The poor can and do save, but often use formal or informal instruments that have high risk, high cost, and limited functionality. This could lead to undersaving compared to a world without market or behavioral frictions. Undersaving can have important welfare consequences: variable consumption, low resilience to shocks, and foregone profitable investments. We lay out five sets of constraints that may hinder the adoption and effective usage of savings products and services by the poor: transaction costs, lack of trust and regulatory barriers, information and knowledge gaps, social constraints, and behavioral biases. We discuss each in theory, and then summarize related empirical evidence, with a focus on recent field experiments. We then put forward key open areas for research and practice.

Keywords: Savings; Randomized Evaluation; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D91 G21 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 54 pages
Date: 2013-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-iue and nep-mfd
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cgd:wpaper:346

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