Financial education via television comedy. Issue 20 (28th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Crawford, Andrew; Lajbcygier, Paul; Maitra, Pushkar
• Is Part Of: Applied economics letters. Volume 25:Issue 20(2018)
• Page Start: 1407
• Page End: 1410
• Publication Date: 2018-11-28
• Subjects: Financial literacy -- media -- field experiment -- Cambodia; O12 -- L82 -- C93; Economics -- Periodicals; Economics, Mathematical -- Periodicals; 330
• DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2017.1422595
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-4851

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We show that television may be able to deliver rudimentary financial literacy in a cost-effective manner. In a controlled experiment, Cambodian garment factory workers were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: no video (baseline), slideshow and comedy TV show. After the intervention, to examine whether individuals were able to internalize the information that was provided, participants were asked to answer a set of questions on financial knowledge and attitudes. Our results show that participants randomly assigned to the comedy show are significantly more likely to report that they are interested in obtaining more information on savings accounts and are also significantly more likely to open a savings account in the next 6 months. This method of delivery may prove effective particularly for the disadvantaged sections of the population in remote regions of Cambodia.