Violence and financial decisions: evidence from mobile money in Afghanistan

Joshua Blumenstock, Mike Callen, Tarek Ghani and Robert Gonzalez

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We provide evidence that violence reduces the adoption and use of mobile money in three separate empirical settings in Afghanistan. First, analyzing nationwide mobile money transaction logs, we find that users exposed to violence reduce use of mobile money. Second, using panel survey data from a field experiment, we show that subjects expecting violence are significantly less likely to respond to random inducements to use mobile money. Finally, analyzing nationwide financial survey data, we find that individuals expecting violence hold more cash. Collectively, this evidence suggests that violence can impede the growth of formal financial systems.

Keywords: violence; financial development; mobile money; award #CCF-1637360 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 O17 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2024-03-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-fle, nep-mfd, nep-mon and nep-pay
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Review of Economics and Statistics, 19, March, 2024, 106(2), pp. 352–369. ISSN: 0034-6535

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:117303

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