Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy
The birth and explosive growth of mobile money in Kenya has provided economists with an opportunity to study the evolution and impact of a new financial system. Mobile money is an innovation that allows individuals to store, send, and receive money on their mobile phone via text message. This system...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
2013
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76717 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0395-7177 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7552-7945 |
| _version_ | 1811080601244008448 |
|---|---|
| author | Suri, Tavneet Jack, William Stoker, Thomas Martin |
| author2 | Sloan School of Management |
| author_facet | Sloan School of Management Suri, Tavneet Jack, William Stoker, Thomas Martin |
| author_sort | Suri, Tavneet |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The birth and explosive growth of mobile money in Kenya has provided economists with an opportunity to study the evolution and impact of a new financial system. Mobile money is an innovation that allows individuals to store, send, and receive money on their mobile phone via text message. This system has opened up basic financial services to many who were previously excluded, and has had real and measurable impacts on the ability of households to protect themselves against health risks. Using a unique survey instrument covering nearly 2,300 households over 2008–2010, we first document the lightning-fast adoption of mobile money in Kenya, which was faster than most documented modern technologies in the United States. We then present evidence on how this innovation allows households to respond better to unexpected adverse health events. We find that in the face of these events, users of mobile money are better able to tap into remittances to finance additional health care costs without having to forego necessary expenditures on education, food, and other consumption needs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:34:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/76717 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:34:01Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/767172022-10-01T04:26:30Z Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy Suri, Tavneet Jack, William Stoker, Thomas Martin Sloan School of Management Suri, Tavneet Stoker, Thomas Martin The birth and explosive growth of mobile money in Kenya has provided economists with an opportunity to study the evolution and impact of a new financial system. Mobile money is an innovation that allows individuals to store, send, and receive money on their mobile phone via text message. This system has opened up basic financial services to many who were previously excluded, and has had real and measurable impacts on the ability of households to protect themselves against health risks. Using a unique survey instrument covering nearly 2,300 households over 2008–2010, we first document the lightning-fast adoption of mobile money in Kenya, which was faster than most documented modern technologies in the United States. We then present evidence on how this innovation allows households to respond better to unexpected adverse health events. We find that in the face of these events, users of mobile money are better able to tap into remittances to finance additional health care costs without having to forego necessary expenditures on education, food, and other consumption needs. Consortium on Financial Systems and Poverty (U.S.) Financial Sector Deepening Trust (Kenya) 2013-02-01T20:05:28Z 2013-02-01T20:05:28Z 2011-09 2012-06 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1091-6490 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76717 Suri, T., W. Jack, and T. M. Stoker. “Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 109.26 (2012): 10257–10262. Web. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0395-7177 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7552-7945 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1115843109 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) PNAS |
| spellingShingle | Suri, Tavneet Jack, William Stoker, Thomas Martin Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy |
| title | Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy |
| title_full | Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy |
| title_fullStr | Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy |
| title_short | Documenting the Birth of a Financial Economy |
| title_sort | documenting the birth of a financial economy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76717 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0395-7177 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7552-7945 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT suritavneet documentingthebirthofafinancialeconomy AT jackwilliam documentingthebirthofafinancialeconomy AT stokerthomasmartin documentingthebirthofafinancialeconomy |