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Mobile money and healthcare use: evidence from East Africa

  • Haseeb Ahmed
  • , Benjamin Cowan

    Publication: Book/Report/ProceedingsReportResearch

    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 nonusers of this technology
    Original languageEnglish
    PublisherNational Bureau of Economic Research
    Number of pages35
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Publication series

    SeriesNBER working papers
    Number25669

    Keywords

    • economy
    • healthcare

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