NOVAFRICA Seminar:
“What Are the Headwaters of Formal Savings? Experimental Evidence from Sri Lanka”

On Wednesday, February 17th, at 2.30pm, the NOVAFRICA Center welcomes Christopher Woodruff, from the University of Warwick to present his work on where the money for formal saving programs comes from in Sri Lanka.

Authors:
Michael Callen
Suresh de Mel
Craig McIntosh
Christopher Woodruff

Abstract:
When households increase their deposits in formal bank savings accounts, what is the source of the money? We combine high-frequency surveys with an experiment in which a Sri Lankan bank used mobile Point-of-Service (POS) terminals to collect deposits directly from households each week. In this context, the headwaters of formal savings are to be found in sacrificed leisure time: households work more, and work more on the wage market when savings options improve. These results suggest that the labor allocation channel is an important mechanism linking savings opportunities to income.

Please find further information about this seminar here.