Research
Job Market Paper
For the past two decades, mobile money, a cellphone-based payment infrastructure, has been the key player in bringing financial services to the unbanked in developing economies. It has been widely used to make peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, shown to be important in helping households deal with bad shocks. Recently, lenders in developing countries have used mobile money to extend digital credit loans to a wider population including the unbanked. Using unique administrative data on mobile money transactions, I observe statistically significant declines in P2P transfers during the first, second, and third months after adoption of mobile money digital credit. The most substantial impact occurs in the third month, with a 95% confidence interval indicating a 14% to 31% decrease in the number of transfers sent and a 16% to 34% decrease in the number of transfers received. This decline in the volume of P2P transfers made is associated with a decline of similar magnitude in the number of unique accounts with which transfers are made. This effect is solely driven by borrowers who become delinquent in repaying their loans, suggesting a tendency for such borrowers to avoid using mobile money until their debt is fully repaid, possibly due to the repayment enforcement mechanism allowing garnishment of mobile money wallets.
Work in Progress
M-PESA, Household Savings and Intra-household Resource Allocation
In this study, I offer evidence, employing an instrumental variable approach, that the initial adoption of mobile money by Kenyan households led to increased participation in rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs). Additionally, I observed an increase in spending on alcohol and a decrease in spending on children by mobile money user households. By connecting gender gaps in mobile money adoption and ROSCA participation, the study suggests that the impact of mobile money on household resource allocation and financial decisions is shaped by the gender gap in mobile money adoption.
Towards a Cashless Economy: Mobile Money and Retail Payment (joint with Amanda Awadey, Mount Holyoke College)
Increased penetration of mobile phones, a large unbanked population, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have advanced the rapid spread of mobile money usage in sub-Saharan Africa. Predominantly used for peer-to-peer transfers (P2P), mobile money is yet to gain significant traction as a mode of payment, particularly in retail. Empirically, evidence of the constraints and the factors that promote using mobile money as a payment tool is scant and was obtained before the COVID-19 pandemic. We are collecting data on these constraints and factors from micro and small firms in Ghana after the surge of digital transactions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, we hope to design informed interventions to address the constraints of using mobile money for retail payments.
Spatial Covariance Functions (joint with Aldo Sandoval-Hernández, Global Affairs Canada)
This is a simulation study that evaluates the performance of different approaches for controlling for spatial dependence in commonly used African datasets (e.g. Demographic and Health Surveys ). We calibrate spatial statistical models to match the datasets and then conduct Monte-Carlo simulations using our calibrated models to evaluate the inference methods.
Climate Change, Food Security and Social Networks in Malawi (joint with Tim Conley, Isaac Luginaah, Cecilia Diaz-Campo) - ongoing, fieldwork complete
This study aims to examine the role of social networks in the exchange of seeds, information, and loans in addressing food insecurity in Malawi. Our primary focus is to better understand how networks for men and women differ and the geographic extent of those social networks. In particular, we seek to explore the role of marriage-based migration in determining the nature of social networks and its impact on outcomes of interest.