Resisting Social Pressure in the Household Using Mobile Money: Experimental Evidence on Microenterprise Investment in Uganda

I examine whether changing the form of disbursement of a microfinance loan enables female microfinance borrowers to overcome intra-household sharing pressure and grow their businesses. Using a field experiment with 3,000 borrowers in Uganda , I compare the disbursement of a loan as cash to disbursement onto a digital account. After 8 months , women who received their microfinance loan on the digital account had 11 percent higher ( US$70 ) business capital and 15 percent higher ( US$18 ) profits compared to those who received their loan as cash. Impacts were greatest for women who experienced pressure to share money with others in the household at baseline. ( JEL C93, D13, G51, J16, O12, O16 )