Saving for Multiple Financial Needs: Evidence from Lockboxes and Mobile Money in Malawi

Shilpa Aggarwal, Valentina Brailovskaya and Jonathan Robinson

No 27035, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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.

JEL-codes: D14 O12 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-ent, nep-exp, nep-fdg, nep-gen, nep-mfd and nep-pay
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published as Shilpa Aggarwal & Valentina Brailovskaya & Jonathan Robinson, 2023. "Saving for Multiple Financial Needs: Evidence from Lockboxes and Mobile Money in Malawi," Review of Economics and Statistics, vol 105(4), pages 833-851.

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