Presentation given in Rio de Janeiro (December 11th) at the Investor Education and Financial Behavior Conference, organized by the CVM and ANBIMA.

1. Psychology of Scarcity:
Providing Financial Education
Under the Poverty Lines
Cristina Carrillo Rivero
Addkeen Consulting
Investor Education and
Financial Behavior Conference
Rio de Janeiro, 10-11 December, 2013

2. Mr. Planner
Financial Education:
Irrational people trying to
design rational programs
for other irrational people
Mr. Doer

3. Hard to put ourselves in others’ shoes?
What about living under the poverty line?

4. Some help to understand
the scarcity mindset…
Research
From Poor Economics (Duflo and
Banerjee) to Scarcity: Why Having Too
Little Means So Much (Shafir and
Mullainathan)
Field experiences
Pro-Savings projects and cases (MIF)
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

5. …and a poverty simulator
playspent.org

6. The here and now… and its consequences
for our financial education initiatives
No planning for
tomorrow
No sustained interest
in learning
Labor informality.
Reliance on public
benefits

7. Two experiences of
financial education in context
Entrepreneurship
program for
microcredit
borrowers
Access to banking
services for public
benefits recipients
(ascending savings)

8. Key points
collected…
… and suggested
applications
Mistrust
of strangers
Community leaders
as trainers
1

9. Key points
collected…
… and suggested
applications
Lack of motivation to
follow the program
Used of incentives
to encourage
participation
2

10. Key points
collected…
… and suggested
applications
Wide range of
unmet social and
educational needs
Practical and contextbound approach
3

11. Key points
collected…
… and suggested
applications
Higher effectiveness
of individualized
interventions
Supporting
peer groups
4

12. Our obsession with quantitative objectives:
What and how to scale?

13. Financial education
is a long-term
investment…
… but in the
meantime,
we can nudge!

14. As a conclusion…
Understanding the real
environment… and the decisionmaking process
Effective partnership: the role of
the influencial members
of the group
Encouraging participation:
incentives, context-bound
approach… and nudging!

15. Thank you!
cristina.carrillo@addkeen.net