The Puzzle of Mobile Money Markets: An Example of Goldilocks Conditions
By Ricardo Martínez-Cid and Gonzalo Pernas
This paper investigates the supply-side and demand-side factors that explain the success of mobile money markets. Namely, we argue that there exists a set of Goldilocks conditions that best supports mobile money services. A population must have exposure to financial services to understand mobile money and have a high enough level of income to have a use for these services. However, the population must also not have access to highly developed banking architecture, such that their banking needs are already satisfied. By comparing El Salvador and Kenya, countries in different stages of development, we find empirical support for our hypothesis. Our evidence suggests that low income regions and households with some exposure to financial services are more likely to use mobile money than fully banked people who enjoy a higher income.
Advisor: Michelle Connolly, Erica Field | JEL Codes: E40, E42, G21, G23, O12, O16, O17
The Effects of SCHIP Expansions on Family Structure
by Jeffrey K. Lee
Abstract
This paper assesses whether the enactment of the State Children’s Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997, which significantly expanded child health care
coverage, affected the probability of marriage for mothers in the United States. Using
March CPS data from 1998-2003, I estimate the effect of a variant of state health
insurance generosity towards children on the probability of the mother’s marriage. When
limiting my analysis to the population affected by SCHIP expansions, I find strong
evidence of an “independence effect;” mothers are generally less likely (by 1 to 3%) to be
married when their state of residence expands in coverage, with some mothers facing
much larger percentage decreases in marriage probability. My results also reveal a
disparity in incentive effects depending on the mother’s situation, as some groups
experience a slight increase in their probability of marriage when state health insurance
coverage increases.
Professor Marjorie McElroy, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: D1, G22
