জাতীয় উন্নয়ন প্রশাসন একাডেমি (নাডা)

Author: Sayla Sowat Siddiqui, PhD1 Tanvir Bashar2 Samanta Islam3

Abstract

This paper studies the association between social protection programs and the household savings behavior in Bangladesh. In this study, we use the data of the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS), conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Using the extensive, representative survey of the rural households for the year 2011, 2015, and 2018, we estimate the effect of receipt of social protection by households on the household savings behavior. Our fixed effect model finds that the reception of social protection by the households is significantly and positively associated with likelihood of savings by the households. The coefficient of the social protection dummy in the fixed effect model is 0.0278 (significant at 5%) implying that not receiving of social protection to receiving of social protection increases the probability of savings by 2.78 percentage point. in Bangladesh. This outcome is important for the policymakers as it provides insights into whether social protection programs encourage financial resilience and how program design can improve household economic behavior.

Keywords: Household savings; Social protection JEL classification: D13, I13, I31 1 Assistant Professor, BRAC Business School, BRAC University 2 Senior Assistant Chief, General Economics Division, Bangladesh Planning Commission & PhD Candidate, The Australian National University, Australia 3 BRAC Business School, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh