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(Digital) cash transfers, privacy and women's empowerment: Evidence from Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Giulia Greco

    (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)

  • Selim Gulesci

    (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin)

  • Pallavi Prabhakar

    (BRAC Institute of Governance and Development)

  • Munshi Sulaiman

    (BRAC Institute of Governance and Development)

Abstract

We present evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Uganda where married women were randomly provided unconditional cash transfers. Among treated women, we randomized the modality of payment (in cash or mobile money) and whether the beneficiary's spouse was informed about the transfer or not. We find that using mobile money for cash transfers is more effective in improving women's economic independence and decision-making power. In particular, women in the mobile money treatments have higher individual labor income and more of a say in household decisions. On the other hand, cash-based transfers are more effective in reducing intimate partner violence (IPV), especially when both partners are informed. This highlights a trade-off between improving the effectiveness of cash transfers on women's economic empowerment versus reducing IPV. While providing cash transfers digitally is more effective in improving women's control over resources, this may lower their effectiveness in addressing IPV.

Suggested Citation

  • Giulia Greco & Selim Gulesci & Pallavi Prabhakar & Munshi Sulaiman, 2025. "(Digital) cash transfers, privacy and women's empowerment: Evidence from Uganda," Trinity Economics Papers tep0225, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep0425
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    File URL: https://www.tcd.ie/Economics/TEP/2025/TEP0425.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital finance; cash transfers; women's empowerment; domestic violence; privacy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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