Monitoring a Study Project on the Effect of Financial Education Using Household Accounting Book (Kakeibo) in Cambodia

On June 6 and 7, 2022, Research Fellow Aiba Daiju and Visiting Fellow Sovannroeun Samreth (Associate Professor, Saitama University) of JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development (JICA Ogata Research Institute) took a business trip to Cambodia to monitor the progress of a study on the effect of financial education through a household accounting book (called “Kakeibo” in Japanese). This study is carried out under the collaboration among the JICA Public Private Partnership Division, JICA Ogata Research Institute, and Gojo & Company, as part of JICA Ogata Research Institute research project, “Study on the Promotion of Financial Inclusion: The Case of Cambodia.”

During this monitoring trip, Aiba and Samreth interviewed participants of this study in rural areas of Kampong Cham Province. In addition to assessing the economic situation of the participants and their surrounding environment, the researchers also asked them how they felt about their participation in this program. They received responses such as, “I had never kept a household budget before joining this program, so I kept a detailed record of our entire family’s income and expenditures for the first time,” “It has become an opportunity for our family members to check our income and expenditures with each other,” and “Keeping records has helped me keep track of wasteful spending.” They also found some suggestive evidence that keeping a budget may produce a behavioral change. In addition, there were households who responded that they would continue Kakeibo as a regular habit, even after the end of the program. One interesting response came from a man, who said, "I had the impression that keeping records of daily income and expenditures was something women did, but my impression changed when I joined the program, and now I keep recording the income and expenditure, instead of my wife.” On the other hand, another respondent stated that she asked her children to record the family income and expenditures, because she was unable to read and write, indicating that some households are facing challenges in keeping a record.