NOVAFRICA News: Catia Batista and Pedro Vicente published in the Review of Economics and Statistics

The paper “Is Mobile Money Changing Rural Africa? Evidence from a Field Experiment” written by NOVAFRICA scientific directors Cátia Batista and Pedro C. Vicente is now published online in The Review of Economics and Statistics.

In the research project that originated the paper, the impact of introducing mobile money for the first time in rural villages of Mozambique was measured by using a randomized field experiment.

The evidence suggests that mobile money can accelerate urbanization and structural change by causing:

• Migration out of rural villages;
• Decreased agricultural activity and investment;
• Increase in migrant remittances received;
• Positive impact on households’ welfare;
• Increased resilience, reduced hunger episodes and more medicines and school supplies.

Learn about this research project here and read the published paper here.