Who You Train Matters : Identifying Complementary Effects of Financial Education on Migrant Households

There has long been a concern among policymakers that too much of remittances are consumed and too little saved, limiting the development impact of migration. Financial literacy programs have become an increasingly popular way to try and address this issue, but to date there is no evidence that they are effective in inducing savings among remittance-receiving households, nor is it clear whether such programs are best targeted at the migrant, the remittance receiver, or both. The authors conducted a randomized experiment in Indonesia which allocated migrants and their families to a control group, a migrant-only training group, a family member-only training group, and a training group in which both the migrant and a family member were trained. Three rounds of follow-up surveys are then used to measure impacts on the financial knowledge, behaviors, and remittance and savings outcomes of the remaining household. They find that training both the migrant and the family member together has large and significant impacts on knowledge, behaviors, and savings. Training the family member alone has some positive, but smaller effects, whilst training only the migrant leads to no impacts on the remaining family members. The results show that financial education can have large effects when provided at a teachable moment, but that this impact varies greatly with who receives training.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Doi, Yoko, McKenzie, David, Zia, Bilal
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012-08
Subjects:	ACCESS TO FINANCE, ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES, ACCESS TO SAVINGS, ATM, ATMS, ATTENDANCE RATES, BANK ACCOUNT, BANK ACCOUNTS, BANKING SERVICE, BANKING SERVICES, BANKS, BASIC KNOWLEDGE, BASIC PRINCIPLES, BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS, BEST PRACTICES, BIASES, BORROWING, BORROWING MONEY, BROCHURE, BROCHURES, BUDGETING, CALCULATION, CALCULATIONS, CLASSROOMS, COMIC BOOKS, COMPUTATIONAL SKILLS, CONTRIBUTION, CURRICULUM, DEBIT CARD, DEBT, DEBT MANAGEMENT, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, DEVELOPMENT BANK, DEVELOPMENTAL IMPACT, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION LEVELS, EMPLOYER, EQUALITY, EXCHANGE RATE, EXCHANGE RATES, EXPENDITURE, EXPENDITURES, FAMILIES, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBERS, FARMERS, FEDERAL RESERVE, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, FEMALE RESPONDENT, FINANCES, FINANCIAL ADVICE, FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, FINANCIAL BEHAVIORS, FINANCIAL CONCEPTS, FINANCIAL DECISION, FINANCIAL DECISIONS, FINANCIAL ECONOMIST, FINANCIAL EDUCATION, FINANCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM, FINANCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, FINANCIAL GOAL, FINANCIAL GOALS, FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, FINANCIAL ISSUES, FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE, FINANCIAL LITERACY, FINANCIAL LITERACY CAMPAIGN, FINANCIAL LITERACY EDUCATION, FINANCIAL LITERACY EXPERTS, FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM, FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAMS, FINANCIAL LITERACY TRAINING, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL PLAN, FINANCIAL PRACTICES, FINANCIAL PRODUCT, FINANCIAL RISKS, FINANCIAL SECTOR, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FINANCIAL SYSTEM, FINANCIAL TRAINING, FOREIGN CURRENCY, FORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, FORMAL FINANCIAL SERVICES, GENDER, GENDER ROLES, GENERAL POPULATION, GREATER ACCESS, HIGH SCHOOL, HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES, HOUSEHOLD FINANCE, HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL DECISION, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD INVESTMENT, HOUSEHOLD SAVING, HOUSEHOLDS, INCOME, INEQUALITY, INSURANCE, INTEREST RATE, INTEREST RATES, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, JOB TRAINING, LEARNING, LIMITED INCOMES, LOAN, LOAN BEHAVIOR, LOAN PRODUCTS, LOW LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LUMP SUM, MEASURES OF KNOWLEDGE, MICROFINANCE, MIGRANT WORKER, MIGRANT WORKERS, MONEY MANAGEMENT, MONTHLY INCOME, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, NUMERACY, PAWNSHOP, PAYDAY LOANS, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOLING, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, REMITTANCE, REMITTANCES, RENTS, RESEARCH ASSISTANCE, RESERVE BANK, RETIREMENT, RETIREMENT FUNDS, RURAL AREAS, SAVING BEHAVIOR, SAVINGS, SAVINGS ACCOUNT, SAVINGS ACCOUNTS, SAVINGS BEHAVIORS, SAVINGS GROUP, SAVINGS OPTIONS, SAVINGS PRODUCT, SAVINGS PRODUCTS, SAVINGS SERVICES, SEASONAL WORKERS, SENIOR, SOCIAL NETWORKS, TEACHING, TERMINATION, TRAINING CENTER, TRAINING MATERIALS, TRAINING PROGRAM, TRANSACTION, TRANSACTION FEES, VILLAGE, WAGE, WAGES,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/08/16602649/train-matters-identifying-complementary-effects-financial-education-migrant-households https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12009
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