Social Network Effects on Mobile Money Adoption in Uganda

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. -551-3920212, fax: +49-551-3920203, e-mail: conrad.murendo@agr.uni-goettingen.de Abstract Social networks play a vital role in generating social learning and information exchange that can drive the diffusion of new financial innovations. This is particularly relevant for developing countries where education, extension and financial information services are underprovided. The recent introduction of mobile money in Africa represents a case where imperfect financial markets, weak extension services and information asymmetries limit the ability of rural households to make informed decisions to take advantage of mobile money innovation. This article identifies the role of social networks in the adoption of mobile money in Uganda. Using data from a survey of 477 rural households, a probit model is estimated controlling for household characteristics, correlated effects, and other possible information sources. Results suggest that learning within social networks helps disseminate information about mobile money and has enhanced its adoption. Compared to poor households, non-poor households rely more on social networks for information about mobile money. Mobile money adoption is likely to be enhanced if promotion programs reach more social networks. Terms of use: Documents in

M-PESA and Financial Inclusion in Kenya: Of Paying Comes Saving?

“…7) and Munyegera and Matsumoto [41] (p. 130)-in a paper on Uganda-also use a dummy for mobile phone ownership. Murendo, Wollni, de Brauw, and Mugabi [42], in another paper on Uganda, use the number of mobile phones owned by the household. We will show that the use of dummies for mobile phone ownership hides a number of interesting relationships between variables.…”

“…As Johnson and Arnold [28] (p. 720) point out (concerning step 2), "The ways in which [socio-demographic] patterns of access are related to barriers to access are complex, as these may operate through combinations of discriminatory policies, informational and contractual frameworks, pricing and product features". For example, in a paper on Uganda, Murendo et al [42] adopt a network-oriented explanation of MFS adoption, and argue that while social networks help spread information about MFS, the poorest households may reside in an "information-poor" situation, preventing them from adopting MFS. Our approach cannot, by its very nature, produce this type of insights.…”

Revolutionalizing Agriculture Extension Delivery Through Mobile Telephony: The Experience of Village Enterprise Agent Model in Greater Masaka Area, Uganda

“…The median age of VEAs was 36 years, with majority in the age bracket of 33-44 and 45-56 years representing 36% and 31% respectively. Only 17% were in the age bracket of youth (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32) year) and 13% were 57 years and above. The age of VEA is not a surprise because during their recruitment, the focus was on people with experience in community work and command of respect to serve as community extension agents.…”

“…mobile technology will increase job performance (extension delivery and farmers' productivity). On the other hand, ease of use is the degree to which the prospective end user expects the technology to be free from over excessive effort during application; ease of use of telephony mobile extension platform [22], [24], [25]. It should however be noted that ease of use and usefulness of ICTs varies from one tool and users' need to another.…”

The Digital Silk Road and the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Digital platforms and business transactions may also generate social network effects(Murendo et al 2018) and facilitate risk-sharing(Riley 2018), and thus generate unexpected social capital (Ahmed 2018).4 Access to digital technology may help to improve access to social services such as education and health care(Hong et al 2017;Thapa and Sein 2018).5 Enhancing ICT may also serve to improve environmental sustainability by monitoring environmental threats and through…”