2012年-世界发展银行全球_The_Impact_of_Financial_Literacy_Training_for_Migrants_at_Destination_2页_769kb

报告摘要

Finance & PSD Impact Summary

Core Content

This document presents the findings of an impact evaluation on financial literacy training for migrants, conducted by John Gibson, David McKenzie, and Bilal Zia. The study, funded by the Russian Trust Fund for Financial Literacy, focuses on the effects of such training on remittance behaviors and financial knowledge in New Zealand and Australia.

Main Groups Studied

The researchers evaluated the impact of financial literacy training on three distinct migrant groups:

349 Pacific Island migrants in New Zealand who remit frequently and had relatively low baseline financial knowledge.
352 East Asian migrants in New Zealand who remit less frequently and had relatively high baseline education and financial knowledge.
209 Sri Lankan migrants in Australia who remit frequently and had relatively high baseline financial knowledge.

These groups were selected through various recruitment methods, including churches, cultural festivals, and snowball sampling.

Training Content

The financial literacy training included:

A 2-hour session.
Handouts and written materials.
Topics covered:
- Reasons for remitting money.
- Components of remittance costs, including exchange rate premiums.
- Strategies for reducing costs (e.g., bundling transactions, using the www.sendmoneypacific.org website).
- Explanation of new remittance products.
- For the Pacific Island sample: comparison of credit costs and alternatives.

Follow-up Surveys

Three follow-up surveys were conducted at monthly intervals after the training, and a final survey six months post-training. Due to high attrition rates in the Sri Lankan sample (45% after one month), the results for this group are less reliable.

Key Results

The training significantly increased specific financial knowledge among migrants.
- Migrants were 12-16 percentage points more likely to know that sending one large transfer is cheaper than two smaller ones.
- They were 10-52 percentage points more likely to know the cheapest method of remitting.
Knowledge gains were highest for the Pacific Island sample, who had the lowest initial financial literacy.
Some behavioral changes were observed:
- Migrants were more likely to use different sources of information to compare remittance costs.
- They were less likely to switch to remittance methods that offer little benefit.
However, the training did not affect:
- The frequency or amount of remittances sent.
- The take-up of the new cheapest remittance products.
Modest changes in credit usage were observed among Pacific Island migrants, who started using Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) to avoid high-cost payday loans.

Policy Implications

Financial literacy training can be cost-effective, with average costs of $15-25 per participant.
While the training improved knowledge and some behaviors, it did not lead to measurable financial benefits over the short term.
The reasons for not using the cheapest products often included convenience, suggesting that the savings from better financial literacy may be too small to motivate action.
To achieve meaningful outcomes, future efforts should focus more on savings and budgeting behavior, helping migrants and their families use their resources more effectively.
Governments aiming to reduce remittance costs should consider addressing barriers to entry for new providers and improving access to financial services in the receiving countries.