Data for: Impact of Village Savings and Loan Associations: Evidence from a cluster randomized trial
Description
Data was collected in 2009 and 2011 in Karonga in Northern Malawi as a part of the Karonga Vulnerability Study. The dataset contains all variables and observations used in the associated paper, but is only a subset of the complete data collected at the time. Thus,the two questionnaires uploaded in the file section only serve to illustrate the questions used. Abstract of associated article: The vast majority of the world's poor live in rural areas of developing countries with little access to financial services. Setting up Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) has become an increasingly widespread intervention aimed at improving local financial intermediation. Using a cluster randomized trial we investigate the impact of VSLAs in Northern Malawi over a two year period. We find evidence of positive and significant intention-to-treat effects on several outcomes, including the number of meals consumed per day, household expenditure as measured by the USAID Poverty Assessment Tool, and the number of rooms in the dwelling. This effect is linked to an increase in savings and credit obtained through the VSLAs, which has increased agricultural investments and income from small businesses.
Files
Steps to reproduce
The following steps are needed: Prerequisites: The statistical software STATA is needed to re-run the code. 1. Unpak all files 2. Open "Ksoll, Lilleor, Lonborg, Rasmussen, JDE 2016 Replication do-file final December 6.do" in a text editor or in STATA. 3. Change the names of the folders used for outputs, data/log files (one folder). This is not by changing the global macros "outreg" and "dataandlog". The global macro "dropbox_main" is not used in re-running. 4. Run The output is produced as text files only.