E-money, risk-sharing, and welfare

被引：0

作者：

Carli, Francesco ^{[1
]}

Uras, Burak R. ^{[2
,3
]}

机构：

[1] Deakin Univ, Dept Econ, Geelong, Australia

[2] Williams Coll, Dept Econ, Williamstown, MA USA

[3] Tilburg Univ, Dept Econ, Tilburg, Netherlands

来源：

EUROPEAN ECONOMIC REVIEW | 2024年 / 169卷

关键词：

FinTech; M-Pesa; Remittances; Risk-sharing; Welfare Policy; PRIVATE MONEY; ALTERNATIVE MEDIA; FIAT MONEY; BANKING;

D O I：

10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104832

中图分类号：

F [经济];

学科分类号：

02 ;

摘要：

We develop a micro-founded monetary model to inquire the role of a privately provided e-money instrument for household consumption smoothing and welfare. Different from fiat money, e-money users pay electronic transaction fees, but in turn e-money reduces their spatial separation frictions and enables risk-sharing through remittance transfers. We characterize the profit maximizing e-money transaction fees charged by a monopolist technology provider and the optimality of price regulation. Calibrating the model for the context of Kenya's e-money product M-Pesa shows that the introduction of M-Pesa through a monopolist increases aggregate welfare by 1.0%, while regulating e-money prices and fully eliminating the monopoly power of the technology provider raises the aggregate welfare only by 0.1% beyond what is achieved through the monopolist.

引用

页数：34