Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
当热浪来袭：贝宁小额信贷客户的短期储蓄与取款行为
When heat hits: Short-run saving and withdrawal behavior among microfinance clients in Benin
摘要
Increased access to finance is widely viewed as a key driver to increase adaptive capacity in response to climate change. However, apart from limited studies on borrowing behavior, little is known about how exposure to extreme heat impacts microfinance clients’ financial behavior. This study addresses this gap by investigating the short-run effects of unusual heat on microfinance clients’ saving and withdrawal behavior. In a case study, it combines geo-located temperature data with a unique dataset of around 50,000 clients of a leading Microfinance Institution (MFI) in Benin. Applying two-way fixed effects, seemingly unrelated regression, and ordinary least square models, the study finds that exposure to extreme heat is heterogeneously associated with microfinance clients’ financial behavior. Specifically, non-agricultural clients show suggestive evidence for the accumulation of precautionary savings after extreme heat days in the precedent quarter, while agricultural clients statistically significantly reduce their savings following exposure to extreme heat in the precedent quarter. Microfinance clients increase their withdrawals when exposed to extreme heat within the precedent quarter, but the association is not robust to agricultural clients’ withdrawals in response to an increase in annual extreme heat days. Addressing the heterogeneous financial responses across different clients to extreme heat consequently requires explicit policy attention. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of extreme weather events on individual economic outcomes, how financial behavior relates to weather risk, and how microfinance clients respond to shocks.
中文摘要
增加融资渠道被广泛视为提升应对气候变化适应能力的关键驱动因素。然而，除有限的借贷行为研究外，关于极端高温暴露与小额信贷客户金融行为之间的关联，目前仍知之甚少。本研究通过考察异常高温与小额信贷客户储蓄和取款行为的短期关联，填补了这一空白。在案例研究中，本文将地理定位温度数据与贝宁一家领先小额信贷机构（MFI）约50,000名客户的独特数据集相结合。研究采用双向固定效应、似不相关回归和普通最小二乘模型，发现极端高温暴露与小额信贷客户的金融行为存在异质性关联。具体而言，非农业客户显示出在前一季度极端高温日后进行预防性储蓄积累的提示性证据，而极端高温日与农业客户的储蓄呈负相关。小额信贷客户在前一季度内暴露于极端高温时会增加取款，但对于农业客户因年度极端高温日增加而取款的反应，这一关联并不稳健。因此，应对不同客户对极端高温的异质性金融反应需要明确的政策关注。我们的发现有助于更好地理解极端高温与个体经济结果之间的关联、金融行为与天气风险的关系，以及小额信贷客户如何应对冲击。