Is Mobile Money Changing Rural Africa? Evidence from a Field Experiment
通过莫桑比克农村的随机实地实验，发现移动货币降低了汇款成本，促进了人口外迁，同时提高了农户福利，加速了城市化与结构转型。
Abstract Rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa are typically underserved by financial services. Mobile money brings a substantial reduction in the transaction costs of remittances. We follow the introduction of mobile money for the first time in rural villages of Mozambique using a randomized field experiment. We find that mobile money increased migration out of these villages, where we observe lower agricultural activity and investment. At the same time, remittances received and welfare of rural households increased, particularly when facing georeferenced village-level floods and household-level idiosyncratic shocks. Our work suggests that mobile money can accelerate urbanization and structural change in sub-Saharan Africa.