By Alejandra Martinez and Danielle Moore
Reducing transaction fees and increasing proximity to bank branches seems like a no-brainer for increasing account usage. And predictably enough, a body of research points to transaction costs broadly defined, including fees, distance from a bank branch, difficult administrative processes, as a major barrier to savings. However, for women in the developing world, experimental evidence paints a more complicated picture about the ways in which transaction costs may affect financial inclusion.
In one study, reinforcing conventional...