Is Mobile Money Changing Rural Africa? Evidence from a Field Experiment

Catia Batista and Pedro Vicente

No 2116, RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series from Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM)

Abstract: Rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa are typically underserved by financial services. We measure the economic impact of introducing mobile money for the first time in rural villages of Mozambique using a randomized control trial. This intervention led to consumption smoothing through increased transfers as a response to both geo-referenced village-level floods and household-level idiosyncratic shocks. Importantly, we find that the availability of mobile money increased migration out of rural areas, where we observe lower agricultural activity and investment. Our work illustrates how financial inclusion can accelerate African urbanization and structural change while improving welfare in rural areas.

Keywords: mobile money; migration; remittances; technology adoption; insurance; consumption smoothing; investment; savings; Mozambique; Africa. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G20 O12 O15 O16 O33 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr, nep-dev, nep-exp, nep-fdg, nep-fle, nep-ias, nep-mfd, nep-mon and nep-pay
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Is Mobile Money Changing Rural Africa? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2023)
Working Paper: Is mobile money changing rural Africa? Evidence from a field experiment (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:crm:wpaper:2116

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