Mobile money, remittances and non-monetary poverty: evidence from Rwanda

Abstract

This paper uses cross-sectional data from the Fin Scope 2020 survey in Rwanda to assess the impact of mobile money on non-monetary poverty across three dimensions: nutrition, health and education. Using Instrumental Variable estimation, I find that mobile money use decreases the likelihood of experiencing poverty related to nutrition, but has no impact on accessing health and education. I find that rural farmers at the bottom of the wealth distribution are more likely to receive remittances after a shock, consistent with the explanation of improved risk-sharing via increased remittances, which are primarily used to secure food consumption.