SAVINGS BY AND FOR THE POOR: A RESEARCH REVIEW AND AGENDA

The Review of Income and Wealth
Dean KarlanJonathan Zinman

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. JEL Codes: D12, D91, G21, O16.

References

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Citations

May 22, 2016·Psychological Science·Todd Rogers, Katherine L Milkman
Mar 9, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Dean KarlanChristopher Udry
Aug 21, 2018·Journal of Policy Analysis and Management : [the Journal of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management]·Julia Shu-Huah WangJing You
Jul 17, 2019·Jàmbá : Journal of Disaster Risk Studies·Alice NcubeAndries Jordaan
Feb 2, 2021·Science Advances·Patrick Francois, Munir Squires
Aug 3, 2018·Journal of Adolescence·Shelley ClarkGrace Marquis

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
dissection
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