What Are the Headwaters of Formal Savings? Experimental Evidence from Sri Lanka

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Callen, Michael; De Mel, Suresh; Mcintosh, Craig; Woodruff, Christopher
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California San Diego; University of Peradeniya; University of Oxford
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdz020
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 2491-2529
• 关键词: time-preferences; field; ECONOMICS; CHOICE; POOR

摘要

The world's poor are seeing a rapid expansion in access to formal savings accounts. What is the source of savings when households are connected to a formal account? We combine a high-frequency panel survey spanning two and a half years with an experiment in which a Sri Lankan bank used mobile Point-of-Service (POS) terminals to collect deposits directly from households each week. We find that the headwaters of formal savings lie in sacrificed leisure time: households work more, and improved savings options generate an increase in labour effort in both self-employment and in the wage market. The results suggest that the labour allocation channel is an important mechanism linking savings opportunities to income.