ABSTRACT

M-PESA, a mobile phone-based technology for transferring money provides a gateway to formal financial services for populations who otherwise would not have access. This study re-examines Jack and Suri's 'Risk Sharing and Transaction Costs' paper. With a few minor differences, the results are robust to consistency tests and sensitivity analyses. Since rural households are expected to particularly benefit from M-PESA, the heterogenous effects have also been explored by comparing benefits across urban and rural residents. The findings reported here and in the original study provide strong empirical evidence that M-PESA has had a positive impact on people’s financial health. Such financial benefits derived from market-based mobile money innovations can be vital in combating world poverty.

摘要

M-PESA是一种基于手机的用于汇款的技术，为原本无法使用的人群提供了通往正式金融服务的门户。这项研究重新审查了杰克和苏里（Jack and Suri）的“风险共享和交易成本”论文。仅有一些细微的差异，结果对于一致性测试和灵敏度分析是可靠的。由于预计农村家庭将特别受益于M-PESA，因此还通过比较城乡居民的利益探索了异质性影响。本文和原始研究报告的发现提供了有力的经验证据，表明M-PESA对人们的财务健康产生了积极影响。从基于市场的移动货币创新中获得的这种财务利益对于消除世界贫困至关重要。