Impact of Microsavings on Shock Coping Strategies in Rural Malawi

This study examines the impact of improving access to formal savings services on the ability of households to manage adverse economic shocks which affect over 90 percent of the households in the sample. The study uses a randomized encouragement trial design to gather panel data from 2,006 households in rural Malawi. The paper focuses on improved access to formal savings services enabled by the introduction of mobile banking by the Opportunity International Bank of Malawi (OIBM) in the study area.