Replication data for: Saving by Default: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural India

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Vincent Somville; Lore Vandewalle

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Project Citation:

Somville, Vincent, and Vandewalle, Lore. Replication data for: Saving by Default: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural India. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2018. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-12-07. https://doi.org/10.3886/E116344V1

Project Description

Summary: Access to banks is rapidly increasing worldwide, and allows account-based instead of cash transfers. We conduct a randomized experiment documenting the impact of the payment method on savings behavior. In India, we allocate identical weekly payments into a bank account (treated) or in cash (control). Savings in the account increase by 131 percent within three months, and the effect is long lasting. We also show that cash payments increase consumption and that—once everyone is paid in cash again—the saving patterns no longer differ. We interpret these findings as a default effect, and we further discuss plausible mechanisms.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: ficial diaries; consumption; savings

JEL Classification:
      C93 Field Experiments
      D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
      D90 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General
      G21 Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
      O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
      O16 Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

Geographic Coverage: India

Collection Date(s): 2014 – 2014

Universe: low income, rural, India

Data Type(s): survey data; administrative records data; experimental data

Methodology

Unit(s) of Observation: households, individuals,

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-12-07]

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Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

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