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The Impact of Financial Literacy Training for Migrants

Author

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  • John Gibson
  • David McKenzie
  • Bilal Zia

Abstract

Remittances are a major source of external financing for many developing countries, but the cost of sending them remains high in many migration corridors. Despite efforts to lower these costs by offering new products and developing cost-comparison information sources, many new and promising inexpensive remittance methods have relatively low adoption rates. The lack of financial literacy among migrants has been identified as one potentially important barrier to competition and new product adoption. This paper presents the results of a randomized experiment designed to measure the impact of providing financial literacy training to migrants. Training appears to increase financial knowledge and information-seeking behavior and reduces the risk of switching to costlier remittance products, but it does not result in significant changes in the frequency of remitting or in the remitted amount.

Suggested Citation

  • John Gibson & David McKenzie & Bilal Zia, 2014. "The Impact of Financial Literacy Training for Migrants," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 130-161.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:28:y:2014:i:1:p:130-161.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/wber/lhs034
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Gibson & Geua Boe-Gibson & Halahingano Rohorua & David McKenzie, 2007. "Efficient remittance services for development in the Pacific," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 14(2), pages 55-74, December.
    2. David J. McKenzie & Johan Mistiaen, 2009. "Surveying migrant households: a comparison of census‐based, snowball and intercept point surveys," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 172(2), pages 339-360, April.
    3. Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2009. "In Pursuit of Balance: Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 200-232, October.
    4. Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2008. "Lying About Borrowing," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 6(2-3), pages 510-521, 04-05.
    5. Carpena, Fenella & Cole, Shawn & Shapiro, Jeremy & Zia, Bilal, 2011. "Unpacking the causal chain of financial literacy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5798, The World Bank.
    6. John Gibson & David McKenzie & Steven Stillman, 2013. "Accounting for Selectivity and Duration-Dependent Heterogeneity When Estimating the Impact of Emigration on Incomes and Poverty in Sending Areas," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(2), pages 247-280.
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    Cited by:

    1. Margaret Miller & Julia Reichelstein & Christian Salas & Bilal Zia, 2015. "Can You Help Someone Become Financially Capable? A Meta-Analysis of the Literature," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 220-246.
    2. Doi, Yoko & McKenzie, David & Zia, Bilal, 2014. "Who you train matters: Identifying combined effects of financial education on migrant households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 39-55.
    3. Karunarathne, Wasana & Gibson, John, 2014. "Financial literacy and remittance behavior of skilled and unskilled immigrant groups in Australia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 54-62.
    4. Gui, Zhengqing & Huang, Yangguang & Zhao, Xiaojian, 2021. "Whom to educate? Financial literacy and investor awareness," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. Entorf, Horst & Hou, Jia, 2018. "Financial Education for the Disadvantaged? A Review," IZA Discussion Papers 11515, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Asian Development Bank & World Bank, 2018. "Migration and Remittances for Development in Asia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 30443.
    7. Tim Kaiser & Lukas Menkhoff, 2017. "Does Financial Education Impact Financial Literacy and Financial Behavior, and If So, When?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(3), pages 611-630.
    8. John Gibson & Riccardo Scarpa & Halahingano Rohorua, 2013. "Respiratory Health of Pacific Island Immigrants and Preferences for Indoor Air Quality Determinants in New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 13/09, University of Waikato.
    9. Lührmann, Melanie & Serra-Garcia, Marta & Winter, Joachim, 2015. "Teaching teenagers in finance: Does it work?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 160-174.
    10. Bruhn, Miriam & Lara Ibarra, Gabriel & McKenzie, David, 2014. "The minimal impact of a large-scale financial education program in Mexico City," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 184-189.
    11. Barua, Rashmi & Shastry, Gauri Kartini & Yang, Dean, 2020. "Financial education for female foreign domestic workers in Singapore," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Bruhn, Miriam & Lara Ibarra, Gabriel & McKenzie, David, 2013. "Why is voluntary financial education so unpopular ? Experimental evidence from Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6439, The World Bank.
    13. Winter, Joachim & Lührmann, Melanie & Serra Garcia, Marta, 2013. "The effects of financial literacy training: Evidence from a field experiment in German high schools," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79744, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Kaiser, Tim & Lusardi, Annamaria & Menkhoff, Lukas & Urban, Carly, 2022. "Financial education affects financial knowledge and downstream behaviors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 255-272.
    15. Seshan, Ganesh & Yang, Dean, 2014. "Motivating migrants: A field experiment on financial decision-making in transnational households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 119-127.
    16. Leonardo Bonilla-Mejía, 2017. "Choques externos y remesas internacionales en las regiones de Colombia," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 35(84), pages 189-202, December.
    17. David McKenzie & Dean Yang, 2015. "Evidence on Policies to Increase the Development Impacts of International Migration," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 155-192.
    18. Francisco J. Oliver-Márquez & Almudena Guarnido-Rueda & Ignacio Amate-Fortes & Diego Martínez-Navarro, 2024. "Regional Comparative Analysis on the Determinants of the Spaniards’ Financial Knowledge," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4203-4238, March.
    19. Fong, Joelle H. & Koh, Benedict S.K. & Mitchell, Olivia S. & Rohwedder, Susann, 2021. "Financial literacy and financial decision-making at older ages," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Kirchberger, Martina, 2021. "Measuring internal migration," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    21. Samuel Nocito & Alessandra Venturini, 2022. "Does Cooperation among Institutions Foster Migrants Inclusion? Evidence from a Case-Study on Financial Literacy in Italy," Working Papers 10/22, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    22. Ur Rehman, Obeid, 2023. "Spousal communication and information sharing: Evidence from migrants and their spouses," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    23. Tim Kaiser & Lukas Menkhoff, 2018. "Active Learning Fosters Financial Behavior: Experimental Evidence," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1743, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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