Increasing savings among low-income individuals in Uganda

Last registered on April 15, 2021

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Increasing savings among low-income households in Uganda

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0007378

Initial registration date

April 14, 2021

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

April 15, 2021, 6:20 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Uganda

Region

The entire country

Primary Investigator

Name

Joeri Smits

Affiliation

Harvard Kennedy School

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Anahit Tevosyan

PI Affiliation

FINCA International

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2021-04-19

End date

2022-04-30

Keywords

Finance & Microfinance

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

Savings have been shown to reduce vulnerability and allow investments in human and physical capital that are needed to escape poverty. Yet saving rates in developing countries are very low. This begs the question of how to increase savings among low-income individuals. In this experiment in all regions of Uganda, we test two interventions against a "bare account" benchmark: first, savings "coaching" by phone and SMS, and second, the promise of a savings-driven loan conditional on regular savings. Outcomes include savings activity and savings balances, and progress towards clients' personal saving goals.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Smits, Joeri and Anahit Tevosyan. 2021. "Increasing savings among low-income households in Uganda." AEA RCT Registry. April 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7378-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Two interventions are tested against a "bare account" benchmark: first, coaching by phone and SMS, and second, the promise of a savings-driven loan conditional on regular savings.

Intervention Start Date

2021-04-19

Intervention End Date

2021-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Savings frequency,
Account activity,
Savings balance,
Savings stability
Progress towards savings goal

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Use of channels: digital/mobile vs. in-branch/teller
If endline can be done: personal income and expenditure

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

New clients are randomized to either savings coaching (phone calls and SMS), a savings-driven loan that is offered conditional on demonstrating regular savings. Randomization is stratified on gender, age, and income level.

Experimental Design Details

New clients are onboarded through a "savings planner" designed for this purpose. The savings planner is a survey tool through which prospective clients set a personal savings goal and draft a savings schedule.

Randomization Method

Randomization is done by a computer, in the ODK software.

Randomization Unit

Household (1 individual per household)

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

1,600 individuals.

Sample size: planned number of observations

1,600

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

533 control, 533 coaching, 533 savings-driven loan

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

The minimum detectible effect size for comparing a treatment (either coaching or savings-driven loan) against the control group, with 80% power, and a statistical significance level of 0.05, is 0.17 standard deviations.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB