通过储蓄释放信贷的益处

中文摘要

已有研究表明，获得小额信贷仅能为受援家庭带来适度的平均收益。我们研究其他金融市场摩擦——特别是缺乏获得安全储蓄场所的渠道——是否会限制信贷的益处。我们与肯尼亚农民合作，将获得一项简单储蓄产品的机会与一笔收获期贷款进行交叉随机化。在获得贷款要约的受援者中，额外提供储蓄锁箱使农业投资增加了11%，家庭消费增加了7%。结果表明，金融市场摩擦可能以重要方式相互作用，而多方面的金融获取项目可能释放家庭的动态收益。

Abstract

Access to microcredit has been shown to generate only modest average benefits for recipient households. We study whether other financial market frictions – in particular, lack of access to a safe place to save – might limit credit’s benefits. Working with Kenyan farmers, we cross-randomize access to a simple savings product with a harvest-time loan. Among loan offer recipients, the additional offer of a savings lockbox increased farm investment by 11% and household consumption by 7%. Results suggest that financial market frictions can interact in important ways and that multifaceted financial access programs might unlock dynamic household gains.