IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/25669.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Mobile Money and Healthcare Use: Evidence from East Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Haseeb Ahmed
  • Benjamin W. Cowan

Abstract

This paper uses a difference-in-difference framework to estimate the effects of mobile money transfer technology (MMT) on healthcare usage in the face of negative health shocks. We use survey data from 2013-16 with quarterly observations on about 1,600 households of 10 villages in the Kisumu region of Western Kenya. We find evidence that MMT, likely through greater ease of informal borrowing, helps households increase utilization of formal healthcare services in terms of visits to a clinic, consultation and medication expenditures in comparison with the non-users of this technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Haseeb Ahmed & Benjamin W. Cowan, 2019. "Mobile Money and Healthcare Use: Evidence from East Africa," NBER Working Papers 25669, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25669
    Note: DEV EH
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w25669.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De Weerdt, Joachim & Dercon, Stefan, 2006. "Risk-sharing networks and insurance against illness," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 337-356, December.
    2. Jenny Aker, Rachid Boumnijel, Amanda McClelland, and Niall Tierney, 2011. "Zap It to Me: The Short-Term Impacts of a Mobile Cash Transfer Program - Working Paper 268," Working Papers 268, Center for Global Development.
    3. Kathleen Beegle & Rajeev Dehejia & Roberta Gatti, 2003. "Child Labor, Crop Shocks, and Credit Constraints," NBER Working Papers 10088, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Asfaw, Abay & von Braun, Joachim, 2004. "Is Consumption Insured against Illness? Evidence on Vulnerability of Households to Health Shocks in Rural Ethiopia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 115-129, October.
    5. Bound, John & Brown, Charles & Mathiowetz, Nancy, 2001. "Measurement error in survey data," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 59, pages 3705-3843, Elsevier.
    6. Paul Gertler & Jonathan Gruber, 2002. "Insuring Consumption Against Illness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 51-70, March.
    7. Pamela Jakiela & Owen Ozier, 2016. "Does Africa Need a Rotten Kin Theorem? Experimental Evidence from Village Economies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 231-268.
    8. Islam, Asadul & Maitra, Pushkar, 2012. "Health shocks and consumption smoothing in rural households: Does microcredit have a role to play?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 232-243.
    9. Fafchamps, Marcel & Gubert, Flore, 2007. "The formation of risk sharing networks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 326-350, July.
    10. Kees Jan Van Garderen & Chandra Shah, 2002. "Exact interpretation of dummy variables in semilogarithmic equations," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 5(1), pages 149-159, June.
    11. William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2014. "Risk Sharing and Transactions Costs: Evidence from Kenya's Mobile Money Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 183-223, January.
    12. Jonathan Robinson & Ethan Yeh, 2011. "Transactional Sex as a Response to Risk in Western Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 35-64, January.
    13. Fafchamps, Marcel & Lund, Susan, 2003. "Risk-sharing networks in rural Philippines," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 261-287, August.
    14. Kennedy, Peter E, 1981. "Estimation with Correctly Interpreted Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations [The Interpretation of Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations]," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 801-801, September.
    15. Prashant Bharadwaj & William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2019. "Fintech and Household Resilience to Shocks: Evidence from Digital Loans in Kenya," NBER Working Papers 25604, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Jacqueline Agesa & Richard Agesa, 1999. "Gender differences in the incidence of rural to urban migration: Evidence from Kenya," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(6), pages 36-58.
    17. Joshua Evan Blumenstock & Nathan Eagle & Marcel Fafchamps, 2011. "Risk and Reciprocity Over the Mobile Phone Network: Evidence from Rwanda," Working Papers 11-25, NET Institute, revised Sep 2011.
    18. Schultz, T. Paul & Tansel, Aysit, 1997. "Wage and labor supply effects of illness in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana: instrumental variable estimates for days disabled," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 251-286, August.
    19. Stefan Dercon & Pramila Krishnan, 2000. "In Sickness and in Health: Risk Sharing within Households in Rural Ethiopia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 688-727, August.
    20. Zhuan Pei & Jörn-Steffen Pischke & Hannes Schwandt, 2019. "Poorly Measured Confounders are More Useful on the Left than on the Right," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 205-216, April.
    21. Paul Gertler & David I. Levine & Enrico Moretti, 2009. "Do microfinance programs help families insure consumption against illness?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(3), pages 257-273, March.
    22. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4392 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Olga Morawczynski & Mark Pickens, 2009. "Poor People Using Mobile Financial Services : Observations on Customer Usage and Impact from M-PESA," World Bank Publications - Reports 9492, The World Bank Group.
    24. Isaac Mbiti & David N. Weil, 2015. "Mobile Banking: The Impact of M-Pesa in Kenya," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume III: Modernization and Development, pages 247-293, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Enoch M Kikulwe & Elisabeth Fischer & Matin Qaim, 2014. "Mobile Money, Smallholder Farmers, and Household Welfare in Kenya," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-13, October.
    26. Pascaline Dupas, 2009. "What Matters (and What Does Not) in Households' Decision to Invest in Malaria Prevention?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 224-230, May.
    27. McPeak, John, 2006. "Confronting the risk of asset loss: What role do livestock transfers in northern Kenya play?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 415-437, December.
    28. Jessica Cohen & Pascaline Dupas, 2010. "Free Distribution or Cost-Sharing? Evidence from a Randomized Malaria Prevention Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(1), pages 1-45.
    29. Jishnu Das & Jeffrey Hammer & Kenneth Leonard, 2008. "The Quality of Medical Advice in Low-Income Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 93-114, Spring.
    30. Maria Eugenia Genoni, 2012. "Health Shocks and Consumption Smoothing: Evidence from Indonesia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(3), pages 475-506.
    31. S M Thumbi & M Kariuki Njenga & Thomas L Marsh & Susan Noh & Elkanah Otiang & Peninah Munyua & Linus Ochieng & Eric Ogola & Jonathan Yoder & Allan Audi & Joel M Montgomery & Godfrey Bigogo & Robert F , 2015. "Linking Human Health and Livestock Health: A “One-Health” Platform for Integrated Analysis of Human Health, Livestock Health, and Economic Welfare in Livestock Dependent Communities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    32. Paul Gertler & David I. Levine & Enrico Moretti, 2006. "Is Social Capital the Capital of the Poor? The Role of Family and Community in Helping Insure Living Standards against Health Shocks," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 52(3), pages 455-499, September.
    33. William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2011. "Mobile Money: The Economics of M-PESA," NBER Working Papers 16721, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    34. Cochrane, John H, 1991. "A Simple Test of Consumption Insurance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(5), pages 957-976, October.
    35. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Anant Nyshadham, 2015. "Return to Treatment in the Formal Health Care Sector: Evidence from Tanzania," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 29-57, August.
    36. Halvorsen, Robert & Palmquist, Raymond, 1980. "The Interpretation of Dummy Variables in Semilogarithmic Equations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 474-475, June.
    37. Kochar, Anjini, 1995. "Explaining Household Vulnerability to Idiosyncratic Income Shocks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 159-164, May.
    38. Riley, Emma, 2018. "Mobile money and risk sharing against village shocks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 43-58.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jianmei Zhao & Lele Zhao, 2022. "Mobile payment adoption and the decline in China’s household savings rate," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 2513-2537, November.
    2. Paul Owusu Takyi & Roberto Leon-Gonzalez, 2022. "Effect of a health shock on working hours and health care usage: the role of financial inclusion in Ghana," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 113-134, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ahmed, Haseeb & Cowan, Benjamin, 2021. "Mobile money and healthcare use: Evidence from East Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Dalton, Michael & LaFave, Daniel, 2017. "Mitigating the consequences of a health condition: The role of intra- and interhousehold assistance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 38-52.
    3. Islam, Asadul & Maitra, Pushkar, 2012. "Health shocks and consumption smoothing in rural households: Does microcredit have a role to play?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 232-243.
    4. Arjun S. Bedi & Sparrow, R.A., 2014. "Sickness and death," ISS Working Papers - General Series 51366, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    5. Khan, Farid & Bedi, Arjun S. & Sparrow, Robert, 2015. "Sickness and Death: Economic Consequences and Coping Strategies of the Urban Poor in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 255-266.
    6. Haddis Solomon & Yoko Kijima, 2022. "Does Land Certification Mitigate the Negative Impact of Weather Shocks? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Islam, Asad & Nguyen, Chau, 2018. "Do networks matter after a natural disaster? A study of resource sharing within an informal network after Cyclone Aila," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 249-268.
    8. Aron, Janine, "undated". "'Leapfrogging': a Survey of the Nature and Economic Implications of Mobile Money," INET Oxford Working Papers 2017-02, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, revised Jan 2017.
    9. sowmya, 2015. "Health Shocks and Short-Term Consumption GrowthAuthor-Name: Sowmya Dhanaraj," Working Papers 2015-112, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    10. Tesfamicheal Wossen & Salvatore Falco & Thomas Berger & William McClain, 2016. "You are not alone: social capital and risk exposure in rural Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(4), pages 799-813, August.
    11. Geng, Xin & Ide, Vera & Janssens, Wendy & Kramer, Berber & van der List, Marijn, 2017. "Health insurance, a friend in need? Evidence from financial and health diaries in Kenya," IFPRI discussion papers 1664, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Sowmya Dhanaraj, 2014. "Health Shocks and Coping Strategies: State Health Insurance Scheme of Andhra Pradesh, India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-003, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Neelsen, Sven & Limwattananon, Supon & O'Donnell, Owen & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2019. "Universal health coverage: A (social insurance) job half done?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 246-258.
    14. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Do, Truong Lam & Halkos, George & Wilson, Clevo, 2020. "Health shocks and natural resource extraction: A Cambodian case study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    15. Owen (O.A.) O'Donnell, 2019. "Financial Protection Against Medical Expense," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 19-010/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    16. Mani, Subha & Mitra, Sophie & Sambamoorthi, Usha, 2018. "Dynamics in health and employment: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 297-309.
    17. Wang, Xiqian & He, Zongyue, 2024. "Household response to health shocks: Does broadband infrastructure have a role to play?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1353-1370.
    18. Riley, Emma, 2018. "Mobile money and risk sharing against village shocks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 43-58.
    19. Takasaki, Yoshito, 2017. "Post-disaster Informal Risk Sharing Against Illness," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 64-74.
    20. Abhishek Dureja & Digvijay S. Negi, 2022. "Coping with the consequences of short‐term illness shocks: The role of intra‐household labor substitution," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1402-1422, July.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25669. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.