Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/96292 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2014/034
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper follows a quasi-experimental research design to assess the impact of the electronic payment system of Mexico's Oportunidades programme. The switch from cash payments to electronic payments delivered via a bank account is found to have implications in terms of reallocation between saving portfolio choices, transaction costs, and coping strategies. The study shows that, following the intervention, participation in informal saving arrangements was reduced, the frequency of remittance reception increased and, when hit by idiosyncratic shocks, beneficiaries of bank accounts were more likely to use savings rather than contracting loans or reducing consumption to cope with the events. The study also reveals impact heterogeneity between rural and urban areas, with important implications for policy and replicability of similar financial innovations in other developing country contexts.
Subjects: 
financial inclusion
social service delivery
Oportunidades
conditional cash transfers
quasi-experimental design
Mexico
JEL: 
D04
D14
G21
O12
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9230-755-4
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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