Unpacking a Multi-Faceted Program to Build Sustainable Income for the Very Poor

Abhijit Banerjee, Dean Karlan, Robert Osei, Hannah Trachtman, Christopher Udry

ABSTRACT

A multi-faceted program comprising a grant of productive assets, training, unconditional cash transfers, coaching, and savings has been found to build sustainable income for those in extreme poverty. We focus on two important questions: whether a mere grant of productive assets would generate similar impacts (it does not), and whether access to a savings account with a deposit collection service would generate similar impacts (it does, but they are short-lived).