Asad Islam

Abstract We conduct a randomized controlled trial among women in rural Bangladesh to compare the efficacy of teaching a standard financial curriculum with maintaining a financial diary. We find that keeping a financial diary to track spending is largely as effective as financial education in improving financial test scores and downstream financial behavior. Using incentivized experiments, we also show that participants who maintained a financial diary exhibited significantly higher household bargaining power. The findings suggest that maintaining a financial diary can be a cost-effective alternative to financial education in improving the financial wellbeing of women in developing countries. Keywords: financial literacy, financial diary, randomized controlled trials, household finance JEL Classification: D14, G51, G53, C93

with Nishith Prakash and Shwetlena Sabarwal, Economics of Education Review

with Roland Hodler and Firoz Ahmed, Economic Journal

Economic Development and Cultural Change

with Marcel Fafchamps, Deb Pakrashi and Denni Tommasi, Journal of Development Economics | (pre-results; Draft available upon request)

with Hashibul Hassan, Choon Wang, and Abu Siddique, with Hashibul Hassan, Choon Wang, and Abu Siddique, Economic Journal

with Choon Wang, Michael Vlassopoulos and Hashibul Hasan, Journal of Political Economy: Micro

Evidence from an RCT, with Ahsan Zaman, Sheikh Eskander and Choon Wang, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

with Michael Vlassopoulos, Yves Zenou and Xin Zhang, Journal of the European Economic Assocation.

Evidence from a Field Experiment in India, with Choon Wang, Deb Pakrashi and Yves Zenou, Journal of Political Economy: Micro