We provide evidence that violence reduces the adoption and use of mobile money in three separate empirical settings in Afghanistan. First, analyzing nationwide mobile money transaction logs, we find that users exposed to violence reduce use of mobile money. Second, using panel survey data from a field experiment, we show that subjects expecting violence are significantly less likely to respond to random inducements to use mobile money. Finally, analyzing nationwide financial survey data, we find that individuals expecting violence hold more cash. Collectively, this evidence suggests that violence can impede the growth of formal financial systems.

© 2021 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2021
The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Supplementary data

Supplemental Appendix
- pdf file
You do not currently have access to this content.