Savings in Transnational Households: A Field Experiment among Migrants from El Salvador

Nava Ashraf, Diego Aycinena, Claudia Martínez A. and Dean Yang

No 20024, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We implemented a randomized field experiment that tested ways to stimulate savings by international migrants in their origin country. We find that migrants value and take advantage of opportunities to exert greater control over financial activities in their home countries. In partnership with a Salvadoran bank, we offered U.S.-based migrants bank accounts in El Salvador. We randomly varied migrant control over El Salvador-based savings by offering different types of accounts across treatment groups. Migrants offered the greatest degree of control accumulated the most savings at the partner bank, compared to others offered less or no control over savings. Impacts are likely to represent increases in total savings: there is no evidence that savings increases were simply reallocated from other savings mechanisms. Enhanced control over home-country savings does not affect remittances sent home by migrants.

JEL-codes: F22 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-exp, nep-ger and nep-mig
Note: DEV LS
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Published as Nava Ashraf & Diego Aycinena & Claudia Martínez A. & Dean Yang, 2015. "Savings in Transnational Households: A Field Experiment among Migrants from El Salvador," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 2(97), pages 332-351, May.

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Journal Article: Savings in Transnational Households: A Field Experiment among Migrants from El Salvador (2015)
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