Agents of Change? Impact of Last-Mile Female Banking Operators in Rural India

Last registered on February 02, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Agents of Change? Impact of Last-Mile Female Banking Operators in Rural India
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012761
Initial registration date
January 31, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
February 02, 2024, 4:18 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
India
Region
Bihar

Primary Investigator

Name
Gaurav Chiplunkar
Affiliation
University of Virginia
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Rohini Pande
PI Affiliation
Yale University
PI Name
Simone Schaner
PI Affiliation
University of Southern California
PI Name
Charity Troyer Moore
PI Affiliation
Yale University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-08-01
End date
2025-03-31
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance, Gender
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Despite significant progress in India's financial services landscape, women, especially in rural areas, face differential challenges in meaningfully using these services. In this project, we propose to experimentally evaluate the impact of introducing last-mile female banking agents (or bank sakhis) in rural Bihar (India). We propose to study whether bank sakhis can increase financial usage and integration in the formal banking system (particularly for women), the extent to which sakhis can also play a role in providing non-transactional financial support to women, and whether this can ultimately challenge views on women’s limited roles in the economy. Lastly, we propose to use descriptive evidence, along with additional survey and administrative data to disentangle three channels that are implicitly embedded in the intervention, namely: (i) the gender identity of the agent; (ii) an increase in competition among agents due to the introduction of the bank sakhi; (iii) the specific bank that was assigned to partner with sakhis in our study area.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chiplunkar, Gaurav et al. 2024. "Agents of Change? Impact of Last-Mile Female Banking Operators in Rural India." AEA RCT Registry. February 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12761-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention is implemented by JEEViKA (an autonomous organization situated in Bihar's Rural Development Department), which organizes and works with women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Bihar. The study focuses on Begusarai district of rural Bihar. The implementation partner will screen and select one SHG-affiliated woman to become a 'Bank Sakhi' -- who will be trained and supported to operate her own community banking kiosk (a Customer Service Point or CSP) in her community (Gram Panchayat or GP).
Intervention Start Date
2021-02-01
Intervention End Date
2025-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We propose to measure the following variables as primary outcomes through surveys of households and financial operators in the area (outlined in greater detail in the Pre-Analysis Plan):
1. Citizens' awareness and exposure to Bank Sakhis.
2. Financial operators' awareness of Bank Sakhis.
3. Banking activities (frequency, type, and outlets traditionally used for banking transactions; use of informal vs. formal financial services).
4. Financial inclusion in traditional banking activities such as savings devices and formality (including outside banks/formal sector) particularly for women.
5. Gender attitudes and norms (of men, women, and operators), specifically regarding the banking system, employment, "suitable tasks" for women.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We propose to measure the following variables as secondary outcomes (outlined in greater detail in the Pre-Analysis Plan):
1. Citizens' beliefs about best practices in banking services.
2. Citizens' evaluation of operators' service quality along two dimensions: financial (fees, financial misconduct) and non-financial (transparency and customer service).
3. Operator service quality (discussed above) as measured independently through mystery shoppers.
4. Market (GP)-level outcomes such as the number of financial operators; number of services offered by them; demand (specifically from women customers); Operator-level business outcomes such as revenues, fees charged.
5. Financial inclusion and use of DFS and digital tools; Citizens' trust and confidence in operators/outlets, and digital financial services.
6. Intra-household bargaining power and agency of women (specifically financial agency).
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The implementation partner will screen and select one SHG-affiliated woman to become a 'Bank Sakhi' -- who will be trained and supported to operate her own community banking kiosk (a Customer Service Point or CSP) in her community (Gram Panchayat or GP). These sakhis (1 per GP) will be instituted in 65 treated GPs out of 110 GPs in Begusarai District (Bihar).
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Done on a computer using STATA
Randomization Unit
Gram Panchayat
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
110 Gram Panchayats
Sample size: planned number of observations
1 eligible woman and man in 3,300 households (30 HH/GP); census of all financial operators in these 110 GPs
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
65 GPs are treated and 45 GPs are control
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 Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2020-09-09
IRB Approval Number
2000028865
IRB Name
Institute of Financial Management and Research
IRB Approval Date
2020-08-22
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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