Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance

This study evaluates CARE Canada’s financial education programme for members of savings groups in rural Rwanda two years after the intervention. The programme was designed to help group members gain better financial understanding and to encourage the usage of formal financial services. My difference-in-differences estimation only allows me to rule out an effect larger than 0.33 points of a financial literacy score measuring participants’ ability to calculate financial trade-offs. This is large considering an average score of 1.7 at baseline. Among the final impacts, I find no evidence that the intervention impacts formal savings, assets, or subjective resilience, with the possible exception of a change from informal borrowing to formal borrowing. Overall, my findings suggest a mixed picture for usage of formal financial services.