Column 4 shows that these savings did not crowdout total household savings.14 Most importantly
for this paper, Column 6 shows that these savings did not lead to a reduction in savings held by
the participant in communal household savings accounts, or to a reduction in savings held by
others in the household in their own accounts. This final result however deserves a note of
caution: we surveyed the respondents, not their household members. Hence, we are only
measuring savings of which they are aware.
Self-Perception of Savings Behavior
In the follow-up survey, we included several questions about personal savings habits and
attitudes. In earlier research we found that time-inconsistent women were more likely than time-
consistent women to take up the SEED product, but that no such differential was found for men.15
Here we examine whether there are heterogeneous treatment effects on savings attitudes and
practices for men versus women and time-inconsistent versus time-consistent clients. Table 7
presents the results on four outcomes using an ordered probit specification. For each outcome,
the respondent was asked whether they strongly agree, agree, are neutral, disagree or strongly
disagree with a specific statement. First, we ask about savings practices: (1) (Columns 1 and 2)
“Although my income is low, I am a disciplined saver”, (2) (Columns 3 and 4) “I never save”,
and (3) (Columns 5 and 6) “When I have a little cash, I spend it rather than save it.” We find no
aggregate effect, although we do find that time-inconsistent women who were offered the SEED
account report being more likely to be a disciplined saver, less likely to never save, and less likely
to report spending rather than saving extra cash. This indicates that at least in their perception,
14 The large standard error may be due to unsystematic measurement error in self-reported savings levels,
or to wide heterogeneity in the degree of savings crowd-out due to the treatment. We lack institutional
data for savings held at non-Green Bank institutions to compare self-reported savings to actual savings
levels. However, for Green Bank savings, we have both institutional data and self-reported savings. We
regress true institutional savings on self-reported savings, and find that the residuals of the regression are
not predicted by assignment to treatment group. Results are not shown, but available upon request.
Therefore, the imprecision in the estimated impact on total household savings is likely the outcome of
unsystematic measurement error in self-reported savings.
15 Individuals defined as present-biased time-inconsistent when in hypothetical time preference questions in
the survey, they revealed a higher discount rate for tradeoffs between now and 30 days than tradeoffs
between 6 months and 7 months.
11