Paper

Household Decision Making and Savings Impacts: Further Evidence from a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines

Examining the impact of a commitment savings product in the Philippines
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This paper examines the impact of a commitment savings product in the Philippines on household decision making power and self perception of savings behavior, as well as actual savings. It attempts to provide evidence that commitment devices for savings could benefit those with self control as well as familial or spousal control issues. The commitment savings product provided individuals with a commitment to restrict access to their savings, thus potentially helping with either self control or family control issues. Findings indicate that:

  • Saving product led to more decision making power in the household for women and more purchases of female oriented durable goods;
  • About 81 percent increase in savings after one year did not crowd out savings held outside of the participating bank;
  • Longer term impact over two and a half years on bank savings dissipated to only a 33 percent increase.

The paper discusses reasons why the effect dissipated and the implications for designing and implementing sustainable, equilibrium shifting interventions.

About this Publication

By Ashraf, N., Karlan, D. & Yin, W.
Published