(Digital) cash transfers, privacy and women's empowerment: Evidence from Uganda

Giulia Greco (), Selim Gulesci (), Pallavi Prabhakar () and Munshi Sulaiman ()
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Giulia Greco: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Selim Gulesci: Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin
Pallavi Prabhakar: BRAC Institute of Governance and Development
Munshi Sulaiman: BRAC Institute of Governance and Development

No tep0225, Economic Papers from Trinity College Dublin, Economics Department

Abstract: We present evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Uganda where married women were randomly provided unconditional cash transfers. Among treated women, we randomized the modality of payment (in cash or mobile money) and whether the beneficiary's spouse was informed about the transfer or not. We find that using mobile money for cash transfers is more effective in improving women's economic independence and decision-making power. In particular, women in the mobile money treatments have higher individual labor income and more of a say in household decisions. On the other hand, cash-based transfers are more effective in reducing intimate partner violence (IPV), especially when both partners are informed. This highlights a trade-off between improving the effectiveness of cash transfers on women's economic empowerment versus reducing IPV. While providing cash transfers digitally is more effective in improving women's control over resources, this may lower their effectiveness in addressing IPV.

Keywords: Digital finance; cash transfers; women's empowerment; domestic violence; privacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D10 D82 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2025-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
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