[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-202180-105":59,"doc-detail-202180-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","pay-me-later-savings-constraints-and-the-demand-for-deferred-payments","Pay Me Later - Savings Constraints and the Demand for Deferred Payments","","We study a savings scheme that lets workers defer receiving part of their wages for three months at zero interest. The program sharply increases savings during the deferral window and leads to higher post-disbursement spending on lump-sum goods. Two years later, after additional scheme rounds, treated workers show lasting improvements to their homes. Follow-up evidence suggests demand reflects both savings needs and self-control concerns, highlighting limited alternatives for effective deferred saving.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/pay-me-later-savings-constraints-and-the-demand-for-deferred-payments/202180/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/pay-me-later-savings-constraints-and-the-demand-for-deferred-payments/202180.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"8796093062539","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-04",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",12,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What is the Pay Me Later savings scheme studied in the paper?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Workers can defer receiving a fraction of wages for three months with zero interest. Payments are handled through the employer’s regular payroll infrastructure.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How does the scheme affect spending and savings during the deferral period?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"The scheme significantly increases savings during the deferral window and raises spending after payout, especially on lumpy goods and durable purchases.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What longer-term outcomes are observed for participants?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Two years later, treated workers make permanent improvements to their homes, and durable asset values rise by a broad measure.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},202180,1788543369,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":66,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},8796093062539,"Pay Me Later: Savings Constraints and the  \nDemand for Deferred Payments ∗  \nLasse Brune, Eric Chyn, and Jason Kerwin January 17, 2021  \nAbstract  \nWe study a simple savings scheme that allows workers to defer receipt of part of their wages for three months at zero interest. The scheme signi􀀌cantly increases savings during the deferral period, leading to higher post-disbursement spending on lumpy goods. Two years later, after two additional rounds of the savings scheme, we 􀀌nd that treated workers have made permanent improvements to their homes. The popularity of the scheme implies a lack of good alternative savings options. The results of a follow-up experiment suggest that demand for the scheme is partly due to its ability to address self-control issues.  \n∗ Brune: Global Poverty Research Lab, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA; [lasse.brune@northwestern.edu](lasse.brune@northwestern.edu) ; Chyn: Department of Economics, Dartmouth College, 6106 Rockefeller Center, Hanover, NH 03755, USA, and NBER; [eric.t.chyn@dartmouth.edu](eric.t.chyn@dartmouth.edu) ; Kerwin: Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, 1994 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA; [jkerwin@umn.edu. We](jkerwin@umn.edu. We) are grateful for insightful comments from Achyuta Adhvaryu, Emily Breza, Lorenzo Casaburi, Michael Callen, Marcel Fafchamps, Xavi Gin􀀓e, Reshma Hussam, Kelsey Jack, Namrata Kala, Dean Karlan, Craig McIntosh, Doug Staiger, Chris Woodru􀀋, Dean Yang, Jonathan Zinman, and from seminar participants at the IPA Researcher Gathering on Financial Inclusion, Yale University, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the University of Hong Kong, HKUST, Peking University, China Agricultural University, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the University of Utah, the University of Washington, MIEDC, CSAE, NEUDC, and ASSA. We gratefully acknowledge support from the Financial Services for the Poor Research Fund at Innovations for Poverty Action, sponsored by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We thank Rachel Sander for providing excellent research assistance, and Ndema Longwe for his outstanding diligent work in managing data collection. In addition, we also thank the editor Esther Du􀀍o and two anonymous referees for detailed comments and feedback. This project would not have been possible without the help of the management at the Lujeri Tea Estate and the employees who participated in the study, who generously shared their time with us. This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project MIN14-164 . This study was reviewed and approved by IRBs in Malawi (NCRSH, protocol number P.08/16/131) and at IPA (protocol number 13888) . This study is registered with the AEA RCT Registry under registration number AEARCTR-0001554 .  \nA key prediction of standard economic models is that individuals should prefer to be paid early. However, an emerging literature documents notable demand for deferred payments for goods and services in developing countries (Casaburi and Macchiavello, 2019; Brune and Kerwin, 2019; Kramer and Kunst, 2020) . Similarly, millions in developed countries choose to defer income by opting to overwithhold on tax payments that are later returned as refunds (Thaler, 1994) .  \nThere are three main bene􀀌ts to deferred payments. First, deferring pay naturally generates lump sums that can be used to purchase durable goods, make business investments, or buy in bulk. This may be particularly important given qualitative evidence that suggests poor households exert substantial e􀀋ort to generate lump sums (Collins et al. , 2009) . Second, deferred payments may be a relatively safer savings option because access to high-quality formal banking is limited and informal saving options can be risky (Karlan, Ratan and Zinman, 2014; Dupas et al. , 2016) . Third, delaying pay can help address behavioral constraints such as time-inconsistency (La","cbCaifFBgdT9Q4Le","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifFBgdT9Q4Le","pdf",821993,54,"English","# Abstract\n## Savings scheme design and effects\n## Downstream impacts and lasting outcomes\n## Interpretation: demand drivers and self-control","[{\"question\":\"What is the Pay Me Later savings scheme studied in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"Workers can defer receiving a fraction of wages for three months with zero interest. Payments are handled through the employer’s regular payroll infrastructure.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the scheme affect spending and savings during the deferral period?\",\"answer\":\"The scheme significantly increases savings during the deferral window and raises spending after payout, especially on lumpy goods and durable purchases.\"},{\"question\":\"What longer-term outcomes are observed for participants?\",\"answer\":\"Two years later, treated workers make permanent improvements to their homes, and durable asset values rise by a broad measure.\"}]","Pay Me Later - Savings Constraints and the Demand for Deferred Payments | PDF",136]