Saving for Multiple Financial Needs: Evidence from Lockboxes and Mobile Money in Malawi
By Shilpa Aggarwal, Valentina Brailovskaya, Jonathan Robinson
The Review of Economics and Statistics | July 2023
The Review of Economics and Statistics | July 2023
Citation
Aggarwal, Shilpa., Brailovskaya, Valentina., Robinson, Jonathan. Saving for Multiple Financial Needs: Evidence from Lockboxes and Mobile Money in Malawi The Review of Economics and Statistics .
Copyright
The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2023
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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. Data from novel high-frequency surveys suggests that 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 or modality of accounts.
Shilpa Aggarwal is an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Indian School of Business (ISB). She is a development economist, whose research aims to explore market linkages in developing countries. For her PhD dissertation, she examined the effects of a road construction programme in India that connected remote rural areas to nearby markets. Her ongoing research is focused on agricultural supply chains in India and East Africa. She also works on issues pertaining to domestic trade, microfinance, and food policy.
Professor Aggarwal holds a PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, an MA from the Delhi School of Economics, and a BA from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.
Shilpa Aggarwal