How Much Does Having a Bank Account Help the Poor?
利用印度国家农村就业保障计划的特殊设计，研究发现通过银行领取工资的农户在教育支出上并不比领取现金的农户更多，表明金融文盲等问题限制了穷人使用银行账户。
Having a bank account is widely regarded as the first step toward financial inclusion of the poor. Funds deposited in a bank account are also observed to lead to higher savings. Exploiting special features of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) of India, our estimates indicate that households that receive NREGS wages through a bank do not appear to spend more on education than other comparable households that receive cash payment. The district level intention to treat specification produces similar results. The findings suggest that the rural poor face constraints in accessing their bank accounts due to financial illiteracy and other problems.