Saving for Change

Last registered on November 13, 2013
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Saving for Change
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000102
First published
November 13, 2013, 5:39 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Mali
Region
Africa

Primary Investigator

Name
Dean Karlan
Affiliation
Northwestern University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Lori Beaman
PI Affiliation
Northwestern University
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PI Name
Bram Thuysbaert
PI Affiliation
Yale University, Innovations for Poverty Action
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2009-02-02
End date
2012-06-30
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
Savings
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Savings groups are part of a micro-savings movement quickly expanding across most of the developing world. Most often organized by NGOs, members of these groups save together, generating funds they then lend out to group members, generating interest on their savings. This study is a randomized evaluation of one prominent program, Saving for Change (SfC) by Oxfam America, Freedom from Hunger, and the Strømme Foundation (OA/FFH) in Mali. We find little evidence that these groups expand business activities, investments in agriculture, or increase expenditures at endline. However, households in treatment villages report improved food security and high frequency surveys demonstrate that consumption variability across seasons is reduced in villages offered SfC. We find no evidence of improvements in health, increased enrollment of children in school, or in women’s social capital, community involvement and intra-household decision-making power.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Beaman, Lori, Dean Karlan and Bram Thuysbaert. 2013. "Saving for Change." AEA RCT Registry. November 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.102-1.0
Former Citation
Beaman, Lori, Dean Karlan and Bram Thuysbaert. 2013. "Saving for Change." AEA RCT Registry. November 13. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/102/history/509
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Saving for Change (SfC), is a community-based savings group program developed by Oxfam America/Freedom From Hunger. The SfC program builds on the accumulating savings and credit association (ASCA) model, enabling women to organize themselves into simple savings and credit groups. The group members, with technical support from the NGO, are fully responsible for managing funds in the group, making decisions on who receives a loan and the loan amount, and setting the terms and conditions of the loans- including rules on weekly contributions, interest rates and penalties for delayed contributions or repayments. Each group consists of approximately 20 women.

At meetings, each woman contributes a savings amount (previously established by the members) to a communal pool, which grows in aggregate size each time the group meets. When a woman needs a loan, she proposes the desired amount to the group. Once all demand has been voiced, the group collectively discusses whether there are enough funds and how to divide funds, and prioritizes requests if there is more demand than funds. Loans must be repaid with interest, at a rate set ex ante by the members. Each group manages its own funds which are entirely internally generated (with no matching or external loans provided), and all transactions occur in front of the group for full transparency. At a predetermined date, the cycle ends and the group divides the entire fund among members, which is referred to as a share-out. In order to address the problem of low literacy rates in Mali, SfC uses an oral accounting system to keep track of savings amounts and outstanding loans.

The SfC-promoting NGOs offer significant technical support to SfC groups. The SfC groups are formed and supported by two types of agents: “hired agents” (paid employees of a local NGO and trained formally), and “replicating agents” (local women from a village in which a hired agent formed a group, and trained more informally by the hired agents). The program aims to generate many replicating agents, thus giving the program independence from the activities of the NGO.




Intervention Start Date
2009-05-01
Intervention End Date
2012-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Business activities, Investments in agriculture, Expenditures, Food security, Health, Education (Enrollment of children in school), Women's social capital, Community involvement, Intra-household decision making power
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment was implemented as SfC expanded into new geographic territory. The study sample was comprised of 500 villages in the Segou region. Study villages were divided into 209 treatment villages and 291 control villages. We stratified the randomization by commune and used a re-randomization procedure to ensure balance on a number of village characteristics. Treatment villages were divided into catchment areas of about 15 villages each by OA/FFH and local partner NGOs. In the study area, each hired agent was assigned a catchment area and was instructed to target 10 villages in the first year of implementation (May 2009-April 2010). In the following year (May 2010-April 2011), hired agents continued to support villages targeted the first year and also introduced SfC in the remaining villages in their zone. During the third year (May 2011-April 2012), the number of hired agents decreased and the territories expanded somewhat. Hired agents continued to support existing replicating agents, added extra groups in neighborhoods of big villages/towns, and implemented follow-up to strengthen older groups.

In order to investigate the way in which the training method of the replicating agent affects program impacts, treatment villages within each catchment were randomly assigned to one of two replication types. Replicating agents in structured replication villages participated in a formal, three-day training. As part of the training, replicators received a pictorial guide and a certificate stating they are certified to form SfC groups. In organic replication villages, replicating agents were not provided with the formal training and material resources. Hired agents provided support (answering questions and giving advice) to replicating agents, whether in the structured or organic villages. Hired agents were instructed to target an equal number of villages from each replication type within the first year.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization was done using stata
Randomization Unit
Villages
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
500 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
6000 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
209 treatment villages
291 control villages
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Yale University Human Subjects Committee
IRB Approval Date
2009-01-30
IRB Approval Number
0901004689
IRB Name
Innovations for Poverty Action IRB - USA
IRB Approval Date
2008-11-25
IRB Approval Number
08November-001
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
June 01, 2012, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials