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dc.titleSavings Groups, Risk Coping, and Financial Inclusion in Rural Areas
dc.contributor.authorFrisancho, Verónica
dc.contributor.authorValdivia, Martín
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coveragePeru
dc.date.available2020-12-07T00:12:00
dc.date.issue2020-12-07T00:12:00
dc.description.abstractThis paper evaluates the impact of the introduction of savings groups on poverty, vulnerability, and financial inclusion outcomes in rural Peru. Using a cluster randomized control trial and relying on both survey and administrative records, we investigate the impact of savings groups after more than two years of exposure. We find t hat savings groups channel expensive investments such as housing improvements and reduce households' vulnerability to idiosyncratic shocks, particularly among households in poorer districts. The treatment also induces changes in households labor allocation choices: access to savings groups increases female labor market participation and, in poorer areas, it fosters greater specialization in agricultural activities. Access to savings groups also leads to a four-percentage point increase in access to credit among women, mainly driven by access to the groups loans. However, the introduction of savings groups has no impact on the likelihood of using formal financial services.On the contrary, it discourages access to loans from formal financial institutions and microfinance lenders among the unbanked.
dc.format.extent47
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0002910
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Savings-Groups-Reduce-Vulnerability-but-Have-Mixed-Effects-on-Financial-Inclusion.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.mediumAdobe PDF
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectMicrofinance
dc.subjectSaving
dc.subjectBank Loan
dc.subjectImpact Evaluation
dc.subjectFinancial Inclusion
dc.subjectRating
dc.subjectPoverty Level
dc.subjectWomen
dc.subjectPoverty
dc.subjectRural Development
dc.subjectPoverty Reduction
dc.subjectHousing Market
dc.subjectFinancial Service
dc.subjectCredit Access
dc.subjectSavings Group
dc.subject.jelcodeO13 - Agriculture • Natural Resources • Energy • Environment • Other Primary Products
dc.subject.jelcodeQ12 - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
dc.subject.jelcodeC93 - Field Experiments
dc.subject.jelcodeO12 - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
dc.subject.jelcodeO16 - Financial Markets • Saving and Capital Investment • Corporate Finance and Governance
dc.subject.jelcodeD24 - Production • Cost • Capital • Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity • Capacity
dc.subject.jelcodeQ14 - Agricultural Finance
dc.subject.jelcodeD92 - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
dc.subject.jelcodeG22 - Insurance • Insurance Companies • Actuarial Studies
dc.subject.keywordsImpact Evaluation;Saving groups;financialinclusion;Village Savings and Loans Associations
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01166
idb.operationRG-K1462
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