American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
The Persistent Power of Behavioral Change: Long-Run Impacts of Temporary Savings Subsidies for the Poor
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 10,
no. 3, July 2018
(pp. 67–100)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
I use a field experiment in rural Kenya to study how temporary incentives to save impact long-run economic outcomes. Study participants randomly selected to receive large temporary interest rates on an individual bank account had significantly more income and assets 2.5–3.5 years after the interest rates expired. These changes are much larger than the short-run impacts on experimental bank account use and almost entirely driven by growth in entrepreneurship. In contrast, interest rates on joint accounts and modest cash payments did not significantly impact long-run economic outcomes.Citation
Schaner, Simone. 2018. "The Persistent Power of Behavioral Change: Long-Run Impacts of Temporary Savings Subsidies for the Poor." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 10 (3): 67–100. DOI: 10.1257/app.20170453Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- C93 Field Experiments
- D13 Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
- D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
- D90 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General
- G21 Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
- I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
- O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development