Featured Speaker
  (January 14, 2019)
  Jessica Goldberg

University of Maryland, College Park

The Role of Savings in Developing Countries

**THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO A LATER DATE IN THE SPRING ON ACCOUNT OF INCLEMENT WEATHER.**

About this Lecture

Banking the “unbanked”, especially the poor, has been high on the financial inclusion agenda. A range of studies show that the providing savings accounts to poor households in developing countries can result in increased investments in productive activities and higher levels of household consumption.  However, there are still gaps in the evidence on how savings accounts might improve the lives of the poor. Take-up of savings accounts remains substantially higher than utilization. Deposit and withdrawal patterns do not always map directly to the observed welfare impacts.  And the design of savings products — including commitment features or the use of mobile money — may have different implications, especially for households facing different needs and constraints.  Drawing on both theoretical and empirical motives for and constraints to saving for households in developing countries, this lecture focuses on what we know, what we do not yet know, and key avenues for future research to influence improved design of financial inclusion products.