Financial Inclusion, Shocks and Poverty: Evidence from the Expansion of Mobile Money in Tanzania

Arbeitspapier

We estimate the effect of mobile money adoption on consumption smoothing, poverty and human capital investments in Tanzania. We exploit the rapid expansion of the mobile money agent network between 2010 and 2012 and combine this with idiosyncratic shocks from variation in rainfall over time and across space in an instrumented DiD methodology. We find that adopter households are able to smooth consumption during periods of shocks and maintain their investments in human capital. Results on time use of children and labor force participation complement the findings on the important role of mobile money for the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 11928

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Pension Funds; Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household ; General Welfare; Well-Being ; Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
• Subject: mobile money ; household shocks ; rainfall ; poverty ; human capital accumulation ; Tanzania

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Abiona, Olukorede ; Foureaux Koppensteiner, Martin
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/193222
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET