Motivating Migrants: A Field Experiment on Financial Decision-Making in Transnational Households

39 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2014

See all articles by Ganesh K. Seshan

Ganesh K. Seshan

World Bank

Dean Yang

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics

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Date Written: January 11, 2014

Abstract

We randomly assigned male migrant workers in Qatar invitations to a motivational workshop aimed at improving financial habits and encouraging joint decision-making with spouses back home in India. 13-17 months later, we surveyed migrants and wives to estimate intent-to-treat impacts in their transnational households. Wives of treated migrants changed their financial practices, and became more likely to seek out financial education themselves. Treated migrants and their wives became more likely to make joint decisions on money matters. Treatment effects on financial outcomes show potential heterogeneity, with those with lower prior savings saving differentially more than those with higher prior savings.

Keywords: financial education, international migration, financial decision-making, savings, remittances, India, Qatar

JEL Classification: F24, O12, O16, C93

Suggested Citation

Seshan, Ganesh K. and Yang, Dean and Yang, Dean, Motivating Migrants: A Field Experiment on Financial Decision-Making in Transnational Households (January 11, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2377653 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2377653

Ganesh K. Seshan (Contact Author)

World Bank ( email )

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Dean Yang

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.umich.edu/~deanyang/

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Economics

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