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

52 Pages Posted: 7 Apr 2014 Last revised: 20 Mar 2022

See all articles by Nava Ashraf

Nava Ashraf

Harvard University - Business School (HBS)

Diego Aycinena

University of Pennsylvania; Universidad del Rosario - Faculty of Economics

Claudia Martínez A

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Institute of Economics

Dean Yang

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics

Date Written: March 2014

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.

Suggested Citation

Ashraf, Nava and Aycinena, Diego and Martínez A, Claudia and Yang, Dean and Yang, Dean, Savings in Transnational Households: A Field Experiment Among Migrants from El Salvador (March 2014). NBER Working Paper No. w20024, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2421124

Nava Ashraf (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Business School (HBS) ( email )

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Diego Aycinena

University of Pennsylvania ( email )

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Universidad del Rosario - Faculty of Economics ( email )

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Claudia Martínez A

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile - Institute of Economics ( email )

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Santiago
Chile

Dean Yang

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy ( email )

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734-764-6158 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.umich.edu/~deanyang/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics

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United States

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