Mobile banking and mobile phone penetration: which is more pro-poor in Africa?

Asongu, Simplice (2013): Mobile banking and mobile phone penetration: which is more pro-poor in Africa?

Abstract

The contribution of this paper to complement theoretical and qualitative mobile penetration literature with empirical evidence is twofold: firstly, we assess the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration and; secondly, the instrumentality of financial development dynamics in this nexus. Main findings suggest an equalizing income-redistributive effect of ‘mobile phone penetration’ and ‘mobile banking’, with a higher income-equalizing effect in the latter than in the former. Poverty alleviation channels explaining this difference in inequality mitigating propensity are discussed. The empirical evidence is based on 52 African countries and deviates from mainstream country-specific and microeconomic survey-based approaches.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Banking; Mobile Phones; Shadow Economy; Financial Development; Africa
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E0 - General > E00 - General; G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G20 - General; L - Industrial Organization > L9 - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities > L96 - Telecommunications; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors ; Shadow Economy ; Institutional Arrangements; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes

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