NOVAFRICA Seminar:
“Access to Formal Banking and Household Finances: Experimental Evidence from India”

On Wednesday, May 2nd, at 2.30pm, the NOVAFRICA Center welcomes Lore Vandewalle, from The Graduate Institute Geneva, to present her work.

Author:
Lore Vandewalle (The Graduate Institute Geneva)

Abstract:
Access to formal banking is spreading across the world. Obtaining a bank account may transform how people manage their finances, and affect their savings and consumption. We report from a field experiment that randomly provides access to a bank account to a representative sample of villagers in rural India. We complement the existing literature by conducting financial diaries, which provide us a complete picture of the household’s financial lives up to six months after the bank account was opened. The results are positive. The respondents save actively in the account, and both their individual and the total household savings increase. There is no significant impact on average expenditures, income, loans and transfers, but there are important effects on consumption smoothing.

Find more information about this seminar here.