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  4. May 2020
  5. Migration, Money Transfers, and Mobile Money: Evidence from Niger

Migration, Money Transfers, and Mobile Money: Evidence from Niger

  • Jenny C. Aker
  • Silvia Prina
  • C. Jamilah Welch
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 110, May 2020
(pp. 589-93)
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Abstract

Mobile money can reduce the cost of sending remittances as compared with traditional money transfer systems. Despite remittances being a crucial part of the West African economy, mobile money is failing to take off. We use supply and demand data for money transfer services to better understand low mobile money adoption in Niger. Using a modified Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism to elicit willingness to pay, we find that households are willing to pay the cost of sending a transfer via mobile money, with substantial regional variation. This regional variation is correlated with agent density, which suggests that agent infrastructure might be a barrier.

Citation

Aker, Jenny C., Silvia Prina, and C. Jamilah Welch. 2020. "Migration, Money Transfers, and Mobile Money: Evidence from Niger." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 110: 589-93. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20201085

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • E42 Monetary Systems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System; Payment Systems
  • F24 Remittances
  • G21 Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
  • G51 Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
  • O16 Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance