Transaction Networks: Evidence from Mobile Money in Kenya
- 1 May 2013
- journal article
- Published by American Economic Association in American Economic Review
- Vol. 103 (3), 356-361
- https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.3.356
Abstract
Mobile money allows households in Kenya to spread risk more efficiently. In this paper we show that these efficiencies are achieved through deeper financial integration and expanded informal networks. Active networks are more geographically dispersed and support more reciprocal financial arrangements. Consistent with the reported reciprocity, mobile money users report a higher share of transactions as being for credit and insurance purposes.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Documenting the birth of a financial economyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012
- Designing Mobile Money Services Lessons from M-PESAInnovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, 2009
- Risk-sharing networks and insurance against illnessJournal of Development Economics, 2006
- Risk-sharing networks in rural PhilippinesJournal of Development Economics, 2003