High transaction and contracting costs are often thought to create credit and savings market failures in developing … improved "technology" for managing informal, collaborative village-based savings groups. Such groups allow, in theory, for more … efficient and lower- cost loans and informal savings, and in practice have been scaled up by international non …

Evidence on the effectiveness of financial education and formal savings account access is lacking, particularly for … shows the education plus account treatment increases bank savings relative to account-only. But survey-measured total … savings shows roughly equal increases across all treatment arms. Earned income also increases in all treatment arms. We find …

, weaker restrictions may be a more effective means of changing behavior. We test this using a school-based commitment savings … which savings are available for cash withdrawal but intended for educational expenses. The weaker commitment generates … increased savings in the program accounts and when combined with a parent outreach program, higher expenditures on educational …

goods decreases with overall consumption, has a number of striking implications for the investment, savings, borrowing and …